Inland
waters (rivers, lakes, and reservoirs) and wetlands (marshes
and coastal wetlands) represent large and continuous sources of nitrous
oxide (N2O) emissions, in view of adequate biomass and
anaerobic conditions. Considerable uncertainties remain in quantifying
spatially explicit N2O emissions from aquatic systems,
attributable to the limitations of models and a lack of comprehensive
data sets. Herein, we conducted a synthesis of 1659 observations of
N2O emission rates to determine the major environmental
drivers across five aquatic systems. A framework for spatially explicit
estimates of N2O emissions in China was established, employing
a data-driven approach that upscaled from site-specific N2O fluxes to robust multiple-regression models. Results revealed the
effectiveness of models incorporating soil organic carbon and water
content for marshes and coastal wetlands, as well as water nitrate
concentration and dissolved organic carbon for lakes, rivers, and
reservoirs for predicting emissions. Total national N2O
emissions from inland waters and wetlands were 1.02 × 105 t N2O yr–1, with contributions
from marshes (36.33%), rivers (27.77%), lakes (25.27%), reservoirs
(6.47%), and coastal wetlands (4.16%). Spatially, larger emissions
occurred in the Songliao River Basin and Continental River Basin,
primarily due to their substantial terrestrial biomass. This study
offers a vital national inventory of N2O emissions from
inland waters and wetlands in China, providing paradigms for the inventorying
work in other countries and insights to formulate effective mitigation
strategies for climate change.