Frequent failure of nutrients to increase plant biomass supports the need for precision fertilization in agriculture
Implementing 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 overferti...
| Autores principales: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Formato: | info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
Springer Nature
2025
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/22285 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-99071-z https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-99071-z |
| _version_ | 1855038546712199168 |
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| author | Carroll, Oliver Seabloom, Eric William Borer, Elizabeth T. Harpole, William Stanley Arnillas, Carlos Alberto Bakker, Jonathan D. Blumenthal, Dana M. Boughton, Elizabeth H. Bugalho, Miguel N. Peri, Pablo Luis MacDougall, Andrew S. |
| author_browse | Arnillas, Carlos Alberto Bakker, Jonathan D. Blumenthal, Dana M. Borer, Elizabeth T. Boughton, Elizabeth H. Bugalho, Miguel N. Carroll, Oliver Harpole, William Stanley MacDougall, Andrew S. Peri, Pablo Luis Seabloom, Eric William |
| author_facet | Carroll, Oliver Seabloom, Eric William Borer, Elizabeth T. Harpole, William Stanley Arnillas, Carlos Alberto Bakker, Jonathan D. Blumenthal, Dana M. Boughton, Elizabeth H. Bugalho, Miguel N. Peri, Pablo Luis MacDougall, Andrew S. |
| author_sort | Carroll, Oliver |
| collection | INTA Digital |
| description | Implementing 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. |
| format | info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo |
| id | INTA22285 |
| institution | Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA -Argentina) |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | Springer Nature |
| publisherStr | Springer Nature |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | INTA222852025-05-15T10:16:47Z Frequent failure of nutrients to increase plant biomass supports the need for precision fertilization in agriculture Carroll, Oliver Seabloom, Eric William Borer, Elizabeth T. Harpole, William Stanley Arnillas, Carlos Alberto Bakker, Jonathan D. Blumenthal, Dana M. Boughton, Elizabeth H. Bugalho, Miguel N. Peri, Pablo Luis MacDougall, Andrew S. Mineral Nutrients Limiting Factors Fertilizer Application Precision Agriculture Rangelands Grasslands Ecology Biomass Agriculture Nutrientes Minerales Factores Limitantes Aplicación de Abonos Agricultura de Precisión Tierras de Pastos Praderas Ecología Biomasa Agricultura Economic and Environmental Impacts Nutrient Application Impactos Económicos y Ambientales Aplicación de Nutrientes Implementing 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. EEA Santa Cruz, INTA Fil: Carroll, Oliver. University of Guelph. Department of Integrative Biology; Canada. Fil: Seabloom, Eric William. University of Minnesota. Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behaviour; Estados Unidos Fil: Borer, Elizabeth T. University of Minnesota. Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behaviour; Estados Unidos Fil: Harpole, William Stanley. Leipzig University. German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research; Alemania Fil: Wilfahrt, Peter A. University of Minnesota. Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behaviour; Estados Unidos Fil: Arnillas, Carlos Alberto. University of Toronto at Scarborough. Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences; Canada. Fil: Bakker, Jonathan D. University of Washington. School of Environmental and Forest Sciences; Estados Unidos Fil: Blumenthal, Dana M. USDA-ARS. Rangeland Resources & Systems Research Unit. Fort Collins; Estados Unidos Fil: Boughton, Elizabeth H. Archbold Biological Station; Estados Unidos Fil: Bugalho, Miguel N. University of Lisbon. Center for Applied Ecology, School of Agriculture; Portugal. Fil: Peri, Pablo Luis. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Santa Cruz; Argentina. Fil: Peri, Pablo Luis. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral; Argentina. Fil: Peri, Pablo Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Fil: MacDougall, Andrew S. University of Guelph. Department of Integrative Biology; Canada. 2025-05-15T10:06:43Z 2025-05-15T10:06:43Z 2025-04-25 info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/22285 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-99071-z Carroll O.; Borer E.; Seabloom E.; Harpole W.S.; Wilfhart P.; Arnillas C.A.; Bakker J.D.; (…); Peri P.L.; et al. (2025) Frequent failure of nutrients to increase plant biomass supports the need for precision fertilization in agriculture. Scientific Reports 15: e14564. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-99071-z 2045-2322 (online) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-99071-z eng info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) application/pdf Springer Nature Scientific Reports 15 : e14564. (April 2025) |
| spellingShingle | Mineral Nutrients Limiting Factors Fertilizer Application Precision Agriculture Rangelands Grasslands Ecology Biomass Agriculture Nutrientes Minerales Factores Limitantes Aplicación de Abonos Agricultura de Precisión Tierras de Pastos Praderas Ecología Biomasa Agricultura Economic and Environmental Impacts Nutrient Application Impactos Económicos y Ambientales Aplicación de Nutrientes Carroll, Oliver Seabloom, Eric William Borer, Elizabeth T. Harpole, William Stanley Arnillas, Carlos Alberto Bakker, Jonathan D. Blumenthal, Dana M. Boughton, Elizabeth H. Bugalho, Miguel N. Peri, Pablo Luis MacDougall, Andrew S. Frequent failure of nutrients to increase plant biomass supports the need for precision fertilization in agriculture |
| title | Frequent failure of nutrients to increase plant biomass supports the need for precision fertilization in agriculture |
| title_full | Frequent failure of nutrients to increase plant biomass supports the need for precision fertilization in agriculture |
| title_fullStr | Frequent failure of nutrients to increase plant biomass supports the need for precision fertilization in agriculture |
| title_full_unstemmed | Frequent failure of nutrients to increase plant biomass supports the need for precision fertilization in agriculture |
| title_short | Frequent failure of nutrients to increase plant biomass supports the need for precision fertilization in agriculture |
| title_sort | frequent failure of nutrients to increase plant biomass supports the need for precision fertilization in agriculture |
| topic | Mineral Nutrients Limiting Factors Fertilizer Application Precision Agriculture Rangelands Grasslands Ecology Biomass Agriculture Nutrientes Minerales Factores Limitantes Aplicación de Abonos Agricultura de Precisión Tierras de Pastos Praderas Ecología Biomasa Agricultura Economic and Environmental Impacts Nutrient Application Impactos Económicos y Ambientales Aplicación de Nutrientes |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/22285 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-99071-z https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-99071-z |
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