The study was published in the journal GCB-Bioenergy. The results are important for strategies to reduce the negative impact of N₂O emissions from oil palm cultivation by selecting appropriate locations and improving plantation management.

During recent decades, rising global demand for cheap oils and fats has promoted the expansion of oil palm plantations in tropical regions. High yields of palm oil are typically achieved by a high use of fertilizer. However, high fertilizer levels or inappropriate timing of fertilizer application may cause environmental problems such as increased emissions of N₂O.

The scientists carried out their research in a mature plantation in Jambi, Indonesia, with the aim of quantifying N₂O emissions in oil palm and assessing environmental and meteorological drivers of N₂O emissions over different timescales.

"The timing and location of N₂O emissions in oil palm plantations vary hugely, which means it is really difficult to estimate emissions. This has really hampered our understanding of cause-and-effect relationships," says first author Dr. Christian Stiegler from the Bioclimatology Group, University of Göttingen. "However, we found that variations in N₂O emissions are strongly linked to oil palm metabolism and the oil palms' response to meteorological and soil conditions."