Abstract Mineral-N fertilization can lead to a short- term enhancement of N 2 O emission from cultivated land. The aim of this field study was the quantitative determi- nation of the short-term N 2 O emission after application of a fertilizer with the new nitrification inhibitor (NI) 3,4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate (DMPP) to winter wheat. NO 3 – and NH 4 + fertilizers labelled with 15 N in liquid and granulated form were used in specific fertili- zer strategies. N fertilizers with higher NO 3 – contents caused higher N 2 O emission than NH 4 + fertilizers. For fertilizers with NIs, used in simplified fertilizer strate- gies with fewer applications and an earlier timing of the N fertilization, the N 2 O release was reduced by about 20%. Of the total N 2 O emission measured, 10–40% was attributed to fertilizer N and 60–90% originated from soil N. Besides the fertilizer NO 3 – -N, the microbial available-N pool in the soil represented a further impor- tant source for N 2 O losses. Compared to liquid fertili- zers, the application in granulated form led to smaller N 2 O emissions. For fertilizers with NIs, the decrease in the N 2 O emission is mainly due to their low NO 3 – -N content and the possibility of reducing the number of ap- plications. Keywords 3,4-Dimethylpyrazole phosphate · Inorganic fertilizer · Nitrification inhibitor · Nitrous oxide · Labelled nitrogen Introduction The release of N 2 O, a trace gas which affects the global climate, is increasing due to more intensive agricultural practices. The contribution of agriculture to the global annual N 2 O emission is estimated at approximately 35% (Isermann 1994). The amount of N 2 O released is usually related to the input of N in organic and mineral fertilizers and depends, in addition, on the form in which N is applied, on the location (soil and climate) and on the cultivated crop (Corre et al. 1995; Kaiser et al. 1998; Mac Kenzie 1998). The extensive survey by Eichner (1990) shows the enormous range of N 2 O losses derived from fertilizers, together with different local conditions and forms of fertilizers. Kaiser et al. (1996) indicated a range of N 2 O emissions for nine European agricultural soils of 0.2–6.6 kg N 2 O-N ha –1 year –1 , which seems to be low in relation to the findings of other studies (Granli and Bøckman 1994). For several fertilizers formulated with nitrification in- hibitors (NIs), a decreasing effect on N 2 O losses has been shown (Bremner and Blackmer 1978; Bronson et al. 1992; Mosier 1994; De Klein et al. 1996; Delgado and Mosier 1996; Mosier et al. 1996; Michel and Wozniak 1998). A new, very effective NI is now avail- able: 3,4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate (DMPP) (Zerulla et al. 2001). Specific application strategies for the use of stabilized fertilizers (NI-containing fertilizers) (Trenkel 1997) have been developed with the benefits of im- proved yield and reduced N losses by NO 3 – leaching, compared to conventional fertilizers (Gutser 1999; Linz- meier et al. 1999). The reduction in the number of fertil- izer applications and the opportunity to apply fertilizer earlier, are further advantages of using stabilized fertili- zers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the short-term emission of N 2 O after the application of fertilizer con- taining the new NI DMPP to winter wheat over 2 years of field trials. A decrease in N 2 O emissions might be ex- pected with stabilized fertilizers, particularly if the num- ber of N applications can be reduced. The form of the fertilizer N (mainly NH 4 + -N or NO 3 – -N) is also likely to have an effect on the amount of N 2 O released. The ferti- lizer-N- or soil-N-derived N 2 O emissions were deter- mined using 15 N tracers. W. Linzmeier · R. Gutser · U. Schmidhalter ( ✉ ) Chair of Plant Nutrition, Technical University Munich, 85350 Freising-Weihenstephan, Germany e-mail: schmidhalter@weihenstephan.de Fax: +49-8161/71-4500 Biol Fertil Soils (2001) 34:103–108 DOI 10.1007/s003740100383 ORIGINAL PAPER W. Linzmeier · R. Gutser · U. Schmidhalter Nitrous oxide emission from soil and from a nitrogen-15-labelled fertilizer with the new nitrification inhibitor 3,4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate (DMPP) Received: 17 April 2001 / Published online: 2 June 2001 © Springer-Verlag 2001