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Ecosystem C and N dynamics affected by a modified spring barley trait with increased nitrogen use - a simulation case study
- Source :
- Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica. Section B, Soil and Plant Science, Vol 68, Iss 3, Pp 230-242 (2018)
- Publication Year :
- 2018
- Publisher :
- Taylor & Francis Group, 2018.
-
Abstract
- To what extent might a crop with increased plant N uptake efficiency and/or N demand increase plant biomass and soil carbon storage, decrease N leaching, and reduce the need for N fertilisation? This was assessed for a fertilised sandy loam site in central Sweden cultivated with spring barley for a four year period using a process based crop and soil simulation model (SOILN) calibrated to fit observations of field experiments with non-modified crops. Crop properties were changed in accordance with previous model applications to other crops with higher N uptake and utilisation efficiencies, to resemble potential effects of breeding. For the modified crops a doubling of daily uptake efficiency of soil mineral N and/or increase of radiation use efficiency by 30%, increased plant biomass by 3%–30%, decreased N leaching by 1%–30% and increased soil organic carbon (SOC) content by 1–12 g C m−2 year−1. The larger changes were mainly due to increased uptake efficiency. Fertilisation of the modified spring barley crop could be reduced while still producing the same plant biomass as the non-modified crop. The plant biomass to N leaching ratio of the modified crops increased. The simulated changes in plant biomass and SOC were sensitive to weather conditions suggesting that in situ experiments would need to cover a large range of weather conditions to evaluate the performance of new crop traits under climatic variability. The study suggests a strong need that field experiments are accompanied with model applications, when exploring the potential of the modified crops under variable conditions.
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 09064710 and 16511913
- Volume :
- 68
- Issue :
- 3
- Database :
- Directory of Open Access Journals
- Journal :
- Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica. Section B, Soil and Plant Science
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- edsdoj.6afe7cac0f1b4b8f92314bae3ff4385f
- Document Type :
- article
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1080/09064710.2017.1385835