Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) houses about half the global livestock population, which has significantly increased in the last 60 years. Most livestock reside in semi-arid and arid environments, spending days grazing and nights in enclosures (bomas). Manure accumulates in these bomas, and this study shows that even after abandonment for 40 years, N₂O fluxes from these abandoned bomas remain an order of magnitude higher than adjacent savanna sites. Scaling this to SSA suggests abandoned bomas are significant continental N₂O hotspots, contributing approximately 5% of Africa's total anthropogenic N₂O emissions.

Klaus Butterbach-Bahl, Gretchen Gettel, Ralf Kiese, Kathrin Fuchs, Christian Werner, Jaber Rahimi, Matti Barthel, Lutz Merbold