Nitrous oxide (N 2 O) is an important greenhouse gas and an ozone-depleting substance. Due to the long persistence of N 2 O in the atmosphere, the mitigation of anthropogenic N 2 O emissions, which are mainly derived from microbial N 2 O-producing processes, including nitrification and denitrification by bacteria, archaea, and fungi, in agricultural soils, is urgently necessary. Members of mesofauna affect microbial processes by consuming microbial biomass in soil. However, how microbial consumption affects N 2 O emissions is largely unknown. Here, we report the significant role of fungivorous mites, the major mesofaunal group in agricultural soils, in regulating N 2 O production by fungi, and the results can be applied to the mitigation of N 2 O emissions. We found that the application of coconut husks, which is the low-value part of coconut and is commonly employed as a soil conditioner in agriculture, to soil can supply a favorable habitat for fungivorous mites due to its porous structure and thereby increase the mite abundance in agricultural fields. Because mites rapidly consume fungal N 2 O producers in soil, the increase in mite abundance substantially decreases the N 2 O emissions from soil. Our findings might provide new insight into the mechanisms of soil N 2 O emissions and broaden the options for the mitigation of N 2 O emissions.

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Soil microorganisms drive emissions of nitrous oxide from soils; this is a powerful greenhouse gas and the dominant ozone-depleting agent. N 2 O emissions can be partly predicted from soil properties and specific microbial groups, whereas a possible role of below-ground microbial interactions has largely been overlooked.