Effects of nitrogen addition on greenhouse gas fluxes during continuous freeze–thaw cycles in a cold temperate forest

Both nitrogen (N) deposition and soil freeze–thaw cycles (FTCs) induce pulses of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in cold temperate zones due to changes in soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) turnover. However, the combined effects of N addition and FTCs on GHG fluxes have received little research attention, particularly in boreal forests. We conducted a laboratory incubation experiment using intact soil cores from Rhododendron dauricum-Larix dahurica plots to investigate the GHG flux response to these combined effects. We separated the soil samples into seven groups (no, low, medium, and high sodium nitrate addition and low, medium, and high ammonium chloride addition) and exposed each group to continuous FTC conditions. The N 2 O and CO 2 emissions were eventually stimulated by the FTCs, while CH 4 uptake was inhibited by FTCs but responded differently under different N addition treatments. All the treatments had substantially increased N 2 O emissions compared to the control. However, the soil respiration rate significantly increased only with medium sodium nitrate addition, and high levels of N addition (regardless of form) inhibited CH 4 uptake. These findings demonstrate that FTCs and N addition (in various forms and levels) have considerable effects on GHG emissions in temperate forest ecosystems. Moreover, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), microbial biomass carbon (MBC), microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN), and inorganic nitrogen in soil are potential factors that drive GHG emissions and are necessary considerations in predicting future feedback effects of GHG emissions on climate change.