Contribution of trace gases nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) to the atmospheric warming balance of forest biomes

N₂O is especially troublesome because, in addition to being an efficient greenhouse gas, it is involved in the destruction of stratospheric ozone. N₂O is produced during nitrification and denitrification processes in soils and is controlled by several factors that determine the rates of these processes. Matson and Vitousek used soil fertility in tropical rain forests, assuming that the production of N₂O increases with increasing nitrogen mineralization. Schulte-Bisping et al. used plant species, humus type, and climate criteria to estimate the total N₂O flux of German forest soils. The N₂O emissions in the tropics undergo strong seasonal patterns expressed as high fluxes in the wet season and low fluxes in the dry season. A study by Sommerfeld et al. showed that emission of N₂O and uptake of CH₄ continued throughout the period of snow cover indicating that the snow was porous and microbial activity did not cease when the soil surface was frozen.