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Developing successful mitigation strategies for greenhouse gases (GHGs) from crop residue returned to the soil can be difficult due to an incomplete understanding of factors controlling their magnitude and direction. Therefore, this study investigates the effects of varying levels of wheat residue (WR) and nutrient management on GHGs emissions (CO2, N2O, and CH4) across three soil types: Alfisol, Vertisol, and Inceptisol. A combination of laboratory-based measurements and a variety of data analysis techniques was used to assess the GHG responses under four levels of WR inputs (0, 5, 10, and 15 Mg/ha; WR0, WR5, WR10, and WR15) and three levels of nutrient (NP0: no nutrient, NP1: nutrients (N and P) were added to balance the residue C/nutrient stoichiometry of C/N/P= 100: 8.3: 2.0 to achieve 30% stabilization of added residue C input at 5 Mg/ha (R5), and NP2: 3 × NP1). The results of this study clearly showed that averaged across residue and nutrient input, Inceptisol showed negative N2O flux, suggesting consumption which was supported by its high legacy phosphorus (19.7 mg kg⁻1), elevated pH (8.49), and lower clay content (13%), which reduced microbial activity, as indicated by lower microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and alkaline phosphatase (Alk-P) levels. N2O emissions were more responsive to nutrient inputs, particularly in Vertisol under high WR (15 Mg/ha) input, while CH4 fluxes were significantly reduced under high residue inputs, especially in Vertisol and Inceptisol. Alfisol exhibited the highest total carbon mineralization and GWP, with cumulative GWP being 1.2 times higher than Vertisol and 1.4 times higher than Inceptisol across residue and nutrient input. The partial least square (PLS) regression revealed that anthropogenic factors significantly influenced CO2 and N2O fluxes more than CH4. The anthropogenic drivers contributed 62% and 44% of the variance explained for N2O and CH4 responses. Our study proves that different biogeochemical mechanisms operate simultaneously depending on the stoichiometry of residue C and nutrients influencing soil GHG responses. Our findings provide insight into the relative contribution of anthropogenic and natural drivers to agricultural GHG emissions, which are relevant for developing process-based models and addressing the broader challenge of climate change mitigation through crop residue management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optimum soil moisture and high crop residue return (RR) can increase the active pool of soil organic carbon and nitrogen, thus modulating the magnitude of greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes. To determine the effect of soil moisture on the threshold level of RR for the wheat production system, we analyzed the relationship between GHG fluxes and RR at four levels, namely 0, 5, 10, and 15 Mg ha−1 (R0, R5, R10, and R15) under two soil moisture content (80% FC and 100% FC) and three levels of nutrient management (NS0: no nutrient; NS1, NS2= 3x NS1). Nutrient input (N and P) in NS1 balanced the residue C/nutrient stoichiometry to achieve 30% stabilization of the residue C input in RR (R5). All RR treatments (cf. R0) were found to significantly reduce N2O emission in moderate soil moisture content (80% FC) by 22–56% across nutrient management due to enhanced soil C mineralization, microbial biomass carbon, and N immobilization. However, averaged across nutrient management, a linear increase in N2O emission was observed with increasing RR under 100% FC soil moisture. A significant decrease in CH4 emission by ca. 46% in most RR treatments was observed in 100% FC compared with the R0. The N2O emission was negatively correlated (p = <0.001) with nutrient stoichiometry. Partial least square (PLS) regression indicated that GHG emissions were more responsive (values > 0.8) to management variables (RR rate, nitrogen (N) input rate, soil moisture, and nutrient stoichiometry of C: N) and post-incubation soil properties (SMBC and NO3-N) in Alfisols. This study demonstrated that the mechanisms responsible for RR effects on soil N2O, CH4 fluxes, and carbon mineralization depend on soil moisture and nutrient management, shifting the nutrient stoichiometry of residue C: N: P. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]