Ploughing a poorly drained grassland reduced N₂O emissions compared to chemical fallow
Managed grasslands occupy a large portion of the agricultural landbase, are rich in C and N and therefore represent a risk for emissions of N₂O during landuse change. Two adjacent grassland plots, one amended with 100m³ ha⁻¹ of liquid swine manure annually since 1978 and an unamended grassland were either (i) left with vegetation intact (Control) or killed by glyphosate in the autumn. Glyphosate-treated subplots were either (ii) left as an undisturbed chemical fallow, (iii) ploughed by full inversion tillage (FIT) in the autumn, or (iv) in the spring.