Short term N2O losses in urine patches: a 15N labelling study

These results show that emission of N2O is greater when N is added as urine compared with mineral N. This can probably be explained by the presence of organic carbon compounds in the urine, which may fuel the N2O production. Moreover, there is a greater exchange of N between the applied urine-N pool and the soil indigenous N-pool compared with the added mineral N-pool and soil indigenous N, which also indicates an increased microbial activity in the urine patches. The urea content of the urine seemed to be of importance for N2O emissions, suggesting dietary regulations of urine N-composition as a N2O mitigation option.