The spatial distribution and emission of nitrous oxide (N2O) in a large eutrophic lake in eastern China: Anthropogenic effects

The emission of N2O from China is globally significant, but relatively few direct observations have been made in many of the fresh water environments most likely to be important sites of N2O production. In this paper, N2O saturations were examined in the ecologically heterogeneous, eutrophied, Lake Taihu, as well as in surrounding rivers in eastern China. The emissions of N2O were estimated and compared with those from other landscapes within the Lake Taihu drainage basin. We found that anthropogenically-enhanced inorganic N inputs act as a limited primary control on the spatial distribution of N2O saturations in heavily eutrophied parts of the lake only and that overall, lake N2O production and emission are not raised as significantly as expected due to high N inputs. In comparison, the heavily eutrophied river network is an important fraction of the local N2O budget, and when considered together with emissions of N2O from the lake, constitute a major (10–50% depending on season) fraction of total N2O emissions from the Lake Taihu drainage basin.