Frequent failure of nutrients to increase plant biomass supports the need for precision fertilization in agriculture

dc.contributor.authorCarroll, Oliver H.
dc.contributor.authorSeabloom, Eric W.
dc.contributor.authorBorer, Elizabeth T.
dc.contributor.authorHarpole, W. Stanley
dc.contributor.authorWilfahrt, Peter
dc.contributor.authorArnillas, Carlos A.
dc.contributor.authorBakker, Jonathan D.
dc.contributor.authorBlumenthal, Dana M.
dc.contributor.authorBoughton, Elizabeth
dc.contributor.authorBugalho, Miguel N.
dc.contributor.authorCaldeira, Maria
dc.contributor.authorCampbell, Malcolm M.
dc.contributor.authorCatford, Jane
dc.contributor.authorChen, Qingqing
dc.contributor.authorDickman, Christopher R.
dc.contributor.authorDonohue, Ian
dc.contributor.authorDuPre, Mary Ellyn
dc.contributor.authorEskelinen, Anu
dc.contributor.authorEstrada, Catalina
dc.contributor.authorFay, Philip A.
dc.contributor.authorFraser, Evan D.G.
dc.contributor.authorHagenah, Nicole
dc.contributor.authorHautier, Yann
dc.contributor.authorHersh-Green, Erika
dc.contributor.authorJonsdottir, Ingibjoerg S.
dc.contributor.authorKadoya, Taku
dc.contributor.authorKomatsu, Kimberly
dc.contributor.authorLannes, Luciola
dc.contributor.authorLiang, Maowei
dc.contributor.authorVenterink, Harry Olde
dc.contributor.authorPeri, Pablo
dc.contributor.authorPower, Sally A.
dc.contributor.authorPrice, Jodi N.
dc.contributor.authorRen, Zhengwei
dc.contributor.authorRisch, Anita C.
dc.contributor.authorSonnier, Gregory
dc.contributor.authorVeen, G.F.
dc.contributor.authorVirtanen, Risto
dc.contributor.authorWardle, Glenda M.
dc.contributor.authorWaring, Elizabeth F.
dc.contributor.authorWheeler, George
dc.contributor.authorYahdjian, Laura
dc.contributor.authorMacdougall, Andrew S.
dc.date.accessioned2025-05-20T09:47:01Z
dc.date.available2025-05-20T09:47:01Z
dc.date.issued2025-04
dc.descriptionDATA AVAILABILITY : The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
dc.description.abstractImplementing precision fertilization to maximize crop yield while minimizing economic and environmental impacts has become critical for agriculture. Variability in biomass response to fertilization within fields, among regions, and over time creates simultaneous risks of under-yielding and overfertilization. We quantify factors determining fertilization responsiveness (i.e., biomass increases with fertilization) up to 15 years in 61 unfertilized rangelands on six continents. We demonstrate widespread multi-year variability in responsiveness, with fertilization increasing average yield by 43% but failing to improve biomass 26% of the time. All sites were responsive at least once, but only four of 61 responded in all plots and years. Modelled management scenarios highlighted that fertilizer cessation is likely to generate sizable economic savings but always reduces yield because of the difficulty in predicting when and where biomass will be unresponsive. This work reveals substantial scale-dependent variability in fertilization responsiveness globally, while clarifying the prospects and pitfalls of managing more spatially and temporally precise nutrient application.
dc.description.departmentMammal Research Institute
dc.description.departmentZoology and Entomology
dc.description.librarianhj2025
dc.description.sdgSDG-02: Zero Hunger
dc.description.sdgSDG-15: Life on land
dc.description.sponsorshipThe National Science Foundation and the Institute on the Environment.
dc.description.urihttps://www.nature.com/srep
dc.identifier.citationCarroll, O.H., Seabloom, E.W., Borer, E.T. et al. 2025, 'Frequent failure of nutrients to increase plant biomass supports the need for precision fertilization in agriculture', Scientific Reports, vol. 15, no. 1. art. 14564, doi : 10.1038/s41598-025-99071-z.
dc.identifier.issn2045-2322 (online)
dc.identifier.other10.1038/s41598-025-99071-z
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/102439
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherNature Research
dc.rightsOpen Access. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
dc.subjectNutrient limitation
dc.subjectPrecision fertilization
dc.subjectPrecision agriculture
dc.subjectRangelands
dc.subjectGrasslands
dc.subjectFertilizer responsiveness
dc.subjectEcology
dc.subjectEnvironmental sciences
dc.titleFrequent failure of nutrients to increase plant biomass supports the need for precision fertilization in agriculture
dc.typeArticle

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