The rapid expansion of intensively farmed vegetable fields has substantially contributed to the total N 2 O emissions from croplands in China. However, to date, the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon have not been completely understood. To quantify the contributions of autotrophic nitrification, heterotrophic nitrification, and denitrification to N 2 O production from the intensive vegetable fields and to identify the affecting factors, a 15 N tracing experiment was conducted using five soil samples collected from adjacent fields used for rice-wheat rotation system (WF), or for consecutive vegetable cultivation (VF) for 0.5 (VF1), 6 (VF2), 8 (VF3), and 10 (VF4) years. Soil was incubated under 50% water holding capacity (WHC) at 25°C for 96 h after being labeled with 15 NH 4 NO 3 or NH 4 15 NO 3 . The average N 2 O emission rate was 24.2 ng Nkg −1 h −1 in WF soil, but it ranged from 69.6 to 507 ng Nkg −1 h −1 in VF soils. Autotrophic nitrification, heterotrophic nitrification and denitrification accounted for 0.3-31.4%, 25.4-54.4% and 22.5-57.7% of the N 2 O emissions, respectively. When vegetable soils were moderately acidified (pH, 6.2 to ≥5.7), the increased N 2 O emissions resulted from the increase of both the gross autotrophic and heterotrophic nitrification rates and the N 2 O product ratio of autotrophic nitrification. However, once severe acidification occurred (as in VF4, pH≤4.3) and salt stress increased, both autotrophic and heterotrophic nitrification rates were inhibited to levels similar to those of WF soil. The enhanced N 2 O product ratios of heterotrophic nitrification (4.84‰), autotrophic nitrification (0.93‰) and denitrification processes were the most important factors explaining high N 2 O emission in VF4 soil. Data from this study showed that various soil conditions (e.g., soil salinity and concentration of NO 3 -or NH 4 + ) could also significantly affect the sources and rates of N 2 O emission.