Understanding and analysing spatial variability of nitrous oxide emissions from a grazed pasture

•Hundred flux chamber were used to measure N2O emissions from a grazed pasture.•N2O emissions in a grazed pasture exhibited spatial variability on multiple scales.•Variations in soil moisture caused variability of N2O response to urine application.•Stratified sampling reduced variability and skewness in the sample mean.•Stratified sampling did not produce a normal distribution of the sample mean.