Nitrogen dynamics under elevated carbon dioxide

How will high carbon dioxide concentrations affect the cycling of nitrogen in crop production systems.

IPNI-2009-AUS-04

Overview

It is known that N demand is lower under eCO2 and this reduces the rate at which N is cycled through the soil/plant system. The low availability of N progressively suppresses the positive response of the biomass of species to elevated CO2 (Reich et al. , 2006), but generally stimulates crop biomass to a greater extent (Ma et al. , 2007). In comparison, elevated CO2 concentration increases symbiotic and non-symbiotic N2 fixation, resulting in more N being gained and less lost. Read more

Year of initiation:2009

Year of completion:2012

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Articles

04 Sep 2013	Elevated Carbon Dioxide and Wheat Nutrition Papers presented at the 2013 IPNC, Turkey and the ANZ Fertilizer Industry Conference
01 Sep 2012	Nitrogen management for wheat in a variable climate R Norton
01 Sep 2012	How will climate change affect wheat nutrition in Australian cropping systems SK Lam, D Chen, R Armstrong and R Norton

Interpretive Summary

2012

By 2070, atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration is expected to double that observed in 1950. In this higher CO2 world, the sustainability of global crop production may be in jeopardy unless current N management strategies are changed. Many studies have tried to quantify the effect of increased CO2 on plant production and N utilization, but the results have generally been inconclusive and contradictory.

2011

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Elevated atmospheric CO2 affects growth and yield which then affect processes controlling the supply and losses of N to sustain these increases. This research was undertaken to measure the effects of elevated CO2 on crop N demand, fertilizer N recovery, symbiotic N2 fixation, residual N availability, and greenhouse gas emissions from cropping systems in southern Australia (Horsham) and northern China using free-air CO2 enrichment (FACE) facilities and glasshouse chambers.