Novel Mechanism of Abiotic Ammonium Oxidation Triggers Nitrous Oxide Bursts Upon Soil Rewetting
Abstract
Drought-rewetting cycles (DWC) in soil are accompanied by a rapid burst of nitrous oxide (N2O) emission within minutes without reactivation of dormant microbes. Here we present a manifold of evidence for a previously unrecognized abiotic mechanism connecting soil ammonium (NH4+) to N2O with hydroxylamine (NH2OH) as a key intermediate. DWC experiments in the Negev Desert soil revealed comparable short N2O pulses in both live and radiation-sterilised soils. N2O emission increased in a dose-dependent manner following NH2OH addition, underscoring NH2OH availability as a key factor of the observed N2O spikes. Finally, isotope labelling experiments showed that NH4+ directly contributes to N2O emission even in sterilised soil. This pathway is likely facilitated by the extracellular ammonia monooxygenase (AMO) – the only known catalyser of NH4+-NH2OH conversion in soil. Our finding of an additional source of atmospheric N2O extend beyond drylands since abiotic processes and DWC are projected to intensify globally including temperate ecosystems.
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BibTeX
@misc{zherebker2026novel,
title = {{Novel Mechanism of Abiotic Ammonium Oxidation Triggers Nitrous Oxide Bursts Upon Soil Rewetting}},
author = {Alexander Zherebker and Edwige Demangeat and Isaac Yagle and Mathieu Pédrot and Michael Dannenmann and Nolenn Kermeur and Rémi Marsac and Laura Fablet and Francisco Cabello-Hurtado and Clemens Scheer and Vasily I. Grabovskiy and Ilya Gelfand},
howpublished = {EarthArXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.31223/x5xj7z},
url = {https://eartharxiv.org/repository/view/15338/},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Novel Mechanism of Abiotic Ammonium Oxidation Triggers Nitrous Oxide Bursts Upon Soil Rewetting
AU - Alexander Zherebker
AU - Edwige Demangeat
AU - Isaac Yagle
AU - Mathieu Pédrot
AU - Michael Dannenmann
AU - Nolenn Kermeur
AU - Rémi Marsac
AU - Laura Fablet
AU - Francisco Cabello-Hurtado
AU - Clemens Scheer
AU - Vasily I. Grabovskiy
AU - Ilya Gelfand
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/02
PB - EarthArXiv
DO - 10.31223/x5xj7z
UR - https://eartharxiv.org/repository/view/15338/
AB - Drought-rewetting cycles (DWC) in soil are accompanied by a rapid burst of nitrous oxide (N2O) emission within minutes without reactivation of dormant microbes. Here we present a manifold of evidence for a previously unrecognized abiotic mechanism connecting soil ammonium (NH4+) to N2O with hydroxylamine (NH2OH) as a key intermediate. DWC experiments in the Negev Desert soil revealed comparable short N2O pulses in both live and radiation-sterilised soils. N2O emission increased in a dose-dependent manner following NH2OH addition, underscoring NH2OH availability as a key factor of the observed N2O spikes. Finally, isotope labelling experiments showed that NH4+ directly contributes to N2O emission even in sterilised soil. This pathway is likely facilitated by the extracellular ammonia monooxygenase (AMO) – the only known catalyser of NH4+-NH2OH conversion in soil. Our finding of an additional source of atmospheric N2O extend beyond drylands since abiotic processes and DWC are projected to intensify globally including temperate ecosystems.
ER -