Nitrous oxide emissions from tundra soil and snowpack in the maritime Antarctic

The nitrous oxide emissions were measured at three tundra sites and one snowpack on the Fildes Peninsula in the maritime Antarctic in the summertime of 2002. The average fluxes at two normal tundra sites were 1.1 ± 2.2 and 0.6 ± 1.7 μg N2O m−2 h−1, respectively. The average flux from tundra soil site with penguin dropping addition was 3.7 ± 2.0 μg N2O m−2 h−1, 3–6 times those from the normal tundra soils, suggesting that the deposition of fresh droppings enhanced N2O emissions during penguin breeding period. The summer precipitation had an important effect on N2O emissions; the flux decreased when heavy precipitation occurred. The diurnal cycle of the N2O fluxes from Antarctic tundra soils was not obtained due to local fluky weather conditions. The N2O fluxes through four snowpack sites were obtained by the vertical N2O concentration gradient and their average fluxes were 0.94, 1.36, 0.81 and 0.85 μg N2O m−2 h−1, respectively. The tundra soils under snowpack emitted N2O in the maritime Antarctic and increased local atmospheric N2O concentrations; therefore these fluxes could constitute an important part of the annual N2O budget for Antarctic tundra ecosystem.