Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a potent greenhouse gas. Assessing the N2O emission from lucerne grasslands with nitrogen addition will aid in estimating the annual N2O emissions of such agriculture areas, particularly following summer rainfall events in light of precipitation variation associated with global change. Here, we measured soil N2O emissions, soil temperature and water content of lucerne grasslands with four levels of nitrogen addition over 25 days, which included 10 rainfall events. Results showed that nitrogen addition was observed to increase soil NO3--N content, but not significantly improve dry matter yield, height or leaf area index. Nitrogen addition and rainfall significantly affected N2O emissions, while the response of N2O emissions to increasing nitrogen input was not linear. Relative soil gas diffusivity (Dp/Do) and water-filled pore space (WFPS) were good indicators of N2O diurnal dynamics, and Dp/Do was able to explain slightly more of the variation in N2O emissions than WFPS. Collectively, nitrogen addition did not affect lucerne dry matter yield in a short term, while it induced soil N2O emissions when rainfall events alter soil water content, and Dp/Do could be a better proxy for predicting N2O emissions in rainfed lucerne grasslands.
Keywords: Loess Plateau; fertiliser nitrogen; precipitation variation; soil gas diffusivity; water-filled pore spaces.