AfieldexperimentwasconductedonChinesecabbage(BrassicacampestrisL.ssp.pekinensis(Lour.)Olsson)inaNanjingsuburbin2003.Theexperimentincluded4treatmentsinarandomizedcompleteblockdesignwith3replicates:zerochemicalfertilizerN(CK);ureaatratesof300kgNha-1(U300)and600kgNha-1(U600),bothasbasalandtwotopdressings;andpolymer-coatedureaatarateof180kgNha-1(PCU180)asabasalapplication.Theacetyleneinhibitiontechniquewasusedtomeasuredenitrification(N2+N2O)fromintactsoilcoresandN2Oemissionsintheabsenceofacetylene.ResultsshowedthatcomparedtoCKtotaldenitrificationlossesweresignificantlygreater(P≤0.05)inthePCU180,U300,andU600treatments,whileN2OemissionsintheU300andU600treatmentsweresignificantlyhigher(P≤0.05)thanCK.IntheU300andU600treatmentspeaksofdenitrificationandN2OemissionwereusuallyobservedafterNapplication.Inthepolymer-coatedureatreatment(PCU180)duringtheperiod20to40daysaftertransplanting,higherdenitrificationratesandN2Ofluxesoccurred.Comparedwithurea,polymer-coatedureadidnotshowanyeffectonreducingdenitrificationlossesandN2OemissionsintermsofpercentageofappliedN.Astemperaturegraduallydecreasedfromtransplantingtoharvest,denitrificationratesandN2Oemissionstendedtodecrease.Asignificant(P≤0.01)positivecorrelationoccurredbetweendenitrification(r=0.872)orN2Oemission(r=0.781)fluxdensitiesandsoiltemperatureintheCKtreatmentwithastablenitratecontentduringthewholegrowingseason.
