Background

 

• Large amounts of nutrients are lost from agricultural fields with negative consequences for the environment

• Hydrological controls can explain variations in nutrient use efficiency, because water mediates both the uptake by plants and leaching

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Here I estimate nitrogen and phosphorous use efficiencies at annual and catchment scale, and compare them to the evaporative ratio.

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To hear about this research, see a 2-minute video of my research!

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Nitrogen use efficiency

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• NUE increases with ET/P (via increased water and N retention)

• NUE increases through time

• Only climatic changes increasing ET/P without negatively affecting yields will improve NUE

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With climate change: temperatures and lower precipitation (i.e. increasing evaporative ratios) will potentially lead to increased nutrient retention and therefore decreased nutrient leaching from agricultural fields.

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Our results show that changes in climate that include increased evaporation and decreased precipitation can lead to increase N use efficiencies without decreasing yields.

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References

 Scaini et al., 2020. Hydro-climatic controls explain variations in catchment-scale nitrogen use efficiency. ERL

 Swaney et al., 2019. Phosphorus use efficiency and crop production: Patterns of regional variation in the United States, 1987–2012. STE

 Lasalletta et al., 2014. 50 year trends in nitrogen use efficiency of world cropping systems: the relationship between yield and nitrogen input to cropland. ERL.

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[Watering by Manthana Chaiwong, farm animal by Laymik, fertilizer by Ayumi Aya - the Noun Project]

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