Journal article
Influence of soil aeration status on denitrifier gene expression and denitrification gas fluxes (N2O and N2) from repacked pasture soils
Soil biology & biochemistry, Vol.222, pp.1-12
11/2026
Metrics
1 Record Views
Abstract
Pasture soils are major sources of nitrous oxide (N2O), a potent greenhouse gas mainly produced through microbial denitrification. However, interactions between soil aeration status and microbial responses involved in regulating N2O emissions remain poorly understood. We investigated denitrifier gene expression together with N<sub>2</sub>O and dinitrogen (N<sub>2</sub>O) emissions using repacked cores of three pasture soils with contrasting bulk densities incubated across ten matric potentials (−1 to −10 kPa). Peak N<sub>2</sub>O fluxes occurred at matric potentials of −1 to −2 kPa and were strongly related to relative gas diffusivity (D<sub>p</sub>/D<sub>o/sub>) and water-filled pore space (WFPS). In contrast, the expression of nirS, norB, and nosZ was more closely associated with matric potential and volumetric water content than with (D<sub>p</sub>/D<sub>o/sub>) and WFPS. However, denitrifier gene transcription alone did not explain the observed gaseous N emissions, indicating that microbial transcriptional responses and measured N fluxes were decoupled under changing soil aeration conditions. These findings suggest bulk soil aeration indices (e.g. (D<sub>p</sub>/D<sub>o/sub>) or WFPS) do not fully represent the local conditions regulating microbial response, whereas measured gaseous N emissions are additionally constrained by soil physical processes governing gas transport. Overall, these results highlight the importance of integrating microbial responses with soil physical processes to improve our mechanistic understanding of N<sub>2</sub>O emissions from grazed pasture soils.
Details
- Title
- Influence of soil aeration status on denitrifier gene expression and denitrification gas fluxes (N2O and N2) from repacked pasture soils
- Creators
- Juan Liu - Lincoln UniversityTimothy Clough - Lincoln UniversitySam Carrick - Manaaki Whenua – Landcare ResearchJiafa Luo - Bioeconomy Science InstituteAndriy Podolyan - Lincoln UniversityNaomi Wells - Lincoln UniversityJupei Shen - Fujian Normal UniversityPeng Li - BAAFLianfeng Du - BAAFHong Pan - Shandong Agricultural UniversityLimei Zhang - Chinese Academy of Sciences (China)Qiang Zhang - Shanxi Agricultural UniversityHong J. Di - Lincoln University
- Publication Details
- Soil biology & biochemistry, Vol.222, pp.1-12
- Publisher
- Elsevier Ltd
- Grant note
- Funding from Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences (ZHSGH202601), Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research and AgResearch Group of Bioeconomy Science Institute, and the New Zealand–China Water Research Centre is gratefully acknowledged.
- Identifiers
- 991013396834202368
- Copyright
- © 2026 The Authors.
- Academic Unit
- Faculty of Science and Engineering; Science
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article