This study presents a novel plant-soil mesocosm system designed for cultivating plants over periods ranging from days to weeks while continuously measuring fluxes of N₂, N₂O and CO₂. For proof of concept, we conducted a 33-day incubation experiment using six soil mesocosms, with three containing germinated wheat plants and three left plant-free. To validate the magnitude of N₂ and N₂O fluxes, we used ¹⁵N-enriched fertilizer and a ¹⁵N mass balance approach. The system inherent leakage rate was about 55 µg N m^− 2 h^− 1 for N₂, while N₂O leakage rates were below the detection limit (< 1 µg N m^− 2 h^− 1). In our experiment, we found higher cumulative gaseous N₂ + N₂O losses in sown soil (0.34 ± 0.02 g N m^− 2) as compared to bare soil (0.23 ± 0.01 g N m^− 2). N₂ fluxes accounted for approximately 94–96% of total gaseous N losses in both planted and unplanted mesocosms. N losses, as determined by the ¹⁵N mass balance approach, were found to be 1.7 ± 0.5 g N m^− 2 for the sown soil and 1.7 ± 0.6 g N m^− 2 for the bare soil, indicating an inconsistency between the two assessment methods. Soil respiration rates were also higher in sown mesocosms, with cumulative soil and aboveground biomass CO₂ respiration reaching 4.8 ± 0.1 and 4.0 ± 0.1 g C m^− 2 over the 33-day incubation period, in sown and bare soil, respectively. Overall, this study measured the effect of wheat growth on soil denitrification, highlighting the sensitivity and utility of this advanced incubation system for such studies.

这项研究提出了一种新颖的植物-土壤中生态系统，设计用于在几天到几周的时间内培养植物，同时连续测量 N ₂、N ₂ O 和 CO ₂的通量。为了验证概念，我们使用六个土壤中质环境进行了 33 天的孵化实验，其中三个含有发芽的小麦植物，三个不含植物。为了验证 N ₂和 N ₂ O 通量的大小，我们使用了¹⁵ N 富集肥料和¹⁵ N 质量平衡方法。对于 N ₂ ，系统固有泄漏率约为 55 µg N m ^{- 2} h ^{- 1}，而 N ₂ O 泄漏率低于检测限（< 1 µg N m ^{- 2} h ^{- 1}）。在我们的实验中，我们发现播种土壤中的累积气态 N ₂  + N _{2 O 损失 (0.34 ± 0.02 g N m} ^{− 2 ) 与裸土 (0.23 ± 0.01 g N m − 2} )相比更高。在种植和未种植的中生态系统中， N ₂通量约占气态氮损失总量的 94-96%。通过¹⁵ N 质量平衡方法确定的氮损失，播种土壤为 1.7 ± 0.5 g N m ^{− 2} ，裸土为1.7 ± 0.6 g N m ^{− 2} ，表明两种评估之间存在不一致。方法。播种中生态系统的土壤呼吸速率也较高，在33天的培育期内，播种土壤和裸土中累积土壤和地上生物量CO ₂呼吸分别达到4.8 ± 0.1和4.0 ± 0.1 g C m ^{− 2} 。总体而言，本研究测量了小麦生长对土壤反硝化的影响，强调了这种先进孵化系统对于此类研究的敏感性和实用性。