Production of N2O,CH4, and CO2 from soils in the tropical savanna during the dry season

Emissions of N₂O, CH₄, and CO₂ from soils at two sites in the tropical savanna of central Venezuela were determined during the dry season in February 1987. Measured arithmetic mean fluxes of N₂O, CH₄, and CO₂ from undisturbed soil plots to the atmosphere were 2.5×10⁹, 4.3×10¹⁰, and 3.0×10¹³ molecules cm^-2 s^-1, respectively. These fluxes were not significantly affected by burning the grass layer. Emissions of N₂O increased fourfold after simulated rainfall, suggesting that production of N₂O in savanna soils during the rainy season may be an important source for atmospheric N₂O. The CH₄ flux measurements indicate that these savanna soils were not a sink, but a small source, for atmospheric methane. Fluxes of CO₂ from savanna soils increased ninefold two hours after simulated rainfall, and remained three times higher than normal after 16 hours. More research is needed to clarify the significance of savannas in the global cycles of N₂O, CH₄, CO₂, and other trace gases, especially during the rainy season.