A global meta-analysis of yield-scaled N2O emissions and its mitigation efforts for maize, wheat, and rice

Zhisheng Yao; Haojie Guo; Yan Wang; Yang Zhan; Tianli Zhang; Rui Wang; Xunhua Zheng; Klaus Butterbach-Bahl

doi:10.1111/gcb.17177

A global meta-analysis of yield-scaled N₂O emissions and its mitigation efforts for maize, wheat, and rice

Zhisheng Yao^*, Haojie Guo, Yan Wang, Yang Zhan, Tianli Zhang, Rui Wang, Xunhua Zheng, Klaus Butterbach-Bahl

^*Corresponding author af dette arbejde

Institut for Agroøkologi - Center for Landscape Research in Sustainable Agricultural Futures - Land-CRAFT

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift/Konferencebidrag i tidsskrift /Bidrag til avis › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › peer review

31 Citationer (Scopus)

Abstract

Maintaining or even increasing crop yields while reducing nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions is necessary to reconcile food security and climate change, while the metric of yield-scaled N₂O emission (i.e., N₂O emissions per unit of crop yield) is at present poorly understood. Here we conducted a global meta-analysis with more than 6000 observations to explore the variation patterns and controlling factors of yield-scaled N₂O emissions for maize, wheat and rice and associated potential mitigation options. Our results showed that the average yield-scaled N₂O emissions across all available data followed the order wheat (322 g N Mg⁻¹, with the 95% confidence interval [CI]: 301–346) > maize (211 g N Mg⁻¹, CI: 198–225) > rice (153 g N Mg⁻¹, CI: 144–163). Yield-scaled N₂O emissions for individual crops were generally higher in tropical or subtropical zones than in temperate zones, and also showed a trend towards lower intensities from low to high latitudes. This global variation was better explained by climatic and edaphic factors than by N fertilizer management, while their combined effect predicted more than 70% of the variance. Furthermore, our analysis showed a significant decrease in yield-scaled N₂O emissions with increasing N use efficiency or in N₂O emissions for production systems with cereal yields >10 Mg ha⁻¹ (maize), 6.6 Mg ha⁻¹ (wheat) or 6.8 Mg ha⁻¹ (rice), respectively. This highlights that N use efficiency indicators can be used as valuable proxies for reconciling trade-offs between crop production and N₂O mitigation. For all three major staple crops, reducing N fertilization by up to 30%, optimizing the timing and placement of fertilizer application or using enhanced-efficiency N fertilizers significantly reduced yield-scaled N₂O emissions at similar or even higher cereal yields. Our data-driven assessment provides some key guidance for developing effective and targeted mitigation and adaptation strategies for the sustainable intensification of cereal production.

Originalsprog	Engelsk
Artikelnummer	e17177
Tidsskrift	Global change biology
Vol/bind	30
Nummer	2
ISSN	1354-1013
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.17177
Status	Udgivet - feb. 2024

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abstract = "Maintaining or even increasing crop yields while reducing nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions is necessary to reconcile food security and climate change, while the metric of yield-scaled N2O emission (i.e., N2O emissions per unit of crop yield) is at present poorly understood. Here we conducted a global meta-analysis with more than 6000 observations to explore the variation patterns and controlling factors of yield-scaled N2O emissions for maize, wheat and rice and associated potential mitigation options. Our results showed that the average yield-scaled N2O emissions across all available data followed the order wheat (322 g N Mg−1, with the 95% confidence interval [CI]: 301–346) > maize (211 g N Mg−1, CI: 198–225) > rice (153 g N Mg−1, CI: 144–163). Yield-scaled N2O emissions for individual crops were generally higher in tropical or subtropical zones than in temperate zones, and also showed a trend towards lower intensities from low to high latitudes. This global variation was better explained by climatic and edaphic factors than by N fertilizer management, while their combined effect predicted more than 70% of the variance. Furthermore, our analysis showed a significant decrease in yield-scaled N2O emissions with increasing N use efficiency or in N2O emissions for production systems with cereal yields >10 Mg ha−1 (maize), 6.6 Mg ha−1 (wheat) or 6.8 Mg ha−1 (rice), respectively. This highlights that N use efficiency indicators can be used as valuable proxies for reconciling trade-offs between crop production and N2O mitigation. For all three major staple crops, reducing N fertilization by up to 30%, optimizing the timing and placement of fertilizer application or using enhanced-efficiency N fertilizers significantly reduced yield-scaled N2O emissions at similar or even higher cereal yields. Our data-driven assessment provides some key guidance for developing effective and targeted mitigation and adaptation strategies for the sustainable intensification of cereal production.",

keywords = "climate change, crop yield, food security, maize, nitrous oxide, rice, wheat, yield-scaled emissions",

author = "Zhisheng Yao and Haojie Guo and Yan Wang and Yang Zhan and Tianli Zhang and Rui Wang and Xunhua Zheng and Klaus Butterbach-Bahl",

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year = "2024",

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doi = "10.1111/gcb.17177",

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T1 - A global meta-analysis of yield-scaled N2O emissions and its mitigation efforts for maize, wheat, and rice

AU - Yao, Zhisheng

AU - Guo, Haojie

AU - Wang, Yan

AU - Zhan, Yang

AU - Zhang, Tianli

AU - Wang, Rui

AU - Zheng, Xunhua

AU - Butterbach-Bahl, Klaus

PY - 2024/2

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N2 - Maintaining or even increasing crop yields while reducing nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions is necessary to reconcile food security and climate change, while the metric of yield-scaled N2O emission (i.e., N2O emissions per unit of crop yield) is at present poorly understood. Here we conducted a global meta-analysis with more than 6000 observations to explore the variation patterns and controlling factors of yield-scaled N2O emissions for maize, wheat and rice and associated potential mitigation options. Our results showed that the average yield-scaled N2O emissions across all available data followed the order wheat (322 g N Mg−1, with the 95% confidence interval [CI]: 301–346) > maize (211 g N Mg−1, CI: 198–225) > rice (153 g N Mg−1, CI: 144–163). Yield-scaled N2O emissions for individual crops were generally higher in tropical or subtropical zones than in temperate zones, and also showed a trend towards lower intensities from low to high latitudes. This global variation was better explained by climatic and edaphic factors than by N fertilizer management, while their combined effect predicted more than 70% of the variance. Furthermore, our analysis showed a significant decrease in yield-scaled N2O emissions with increasing N use efficiency or in N2O emissions for production systems with cereal yields >10 Mg ha−1 (maize), 6.6 Mg ha−1 (wheat) or 6.8 Mg ha−1 (rice), respectively. This highlights that N use efficiency indicators can be used as valuable proxies for reconciling trade-offs between crop production and N2O mitigation. For all three major staple crops, reducing N fertilization by up to 30%, optimizing the timing and placement of fertilizer application or using enhanced-efficiency N fertilizers significantly reduced yield-scaled N2O emissions at similar or even higher cereal yields. Our data-driven assessment provides some key guidance for developing effective and targeted mitigation and adaptation strategies for the sustainable intensification of cereal production.

AB - Maintaining or even increasing crop yields while reducing nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions is necessary to reconcile food security and climate change, while the metric of yield-scaled N2O emission (i.e., N2O emissions per unit of crop yield) is at present poorly understood. Here we conducted a global meta-analysis with more than 6000 observations to explore the variation patterns and controlling factors of yield-scaled N2O emissions for maize, wheat and rice and associated potential mitigation options. Our results showed that the average yield-scaled N2O emissions across all available data followed the order wheat (322 g N Mg−1, with the 95% confidence interval [CI]: 301–346) > maize (211 g N Mg−1, CI: 198–225) > rice (153 g N Mg−1, CI: 144–163). Yield-scaled N2O emissions for individual crops were generally higher in tropical or subtropical zones than in temperate zones, and also showed a trend towards lower intensities from low to high latitudes. This global variation was better explained by climatic and edaphic factors than by N fertilizer management, while their combined effect predicted more than 70% of the variance. Furthermore, our analysis showed a significant decrease in yield-scaled N2O emissions with increasing N use efficiency or in N2O emissions for production systems with cereal yields >10 Mg ha−1 (maize), 6.6 Mg ha−1 (wheat) or 6.8 Mg ha−1 (rice), respectively. This highlights that N use efficiency indicators can be used as valuable proxies for reconciling trade-offs between crop production and N2O mitigation. For all three major staple crops, reducing N fertilization by up to 30%, optimizing the timing and placement of fertilizer application or using enhanced-efficiency N fertilizers significantly reduced yield-scaled N2O emissions at similar or even higher cereal yields. Our data-driven assessment provides some key guidance for developing effective and targeted mitigation and adaptation strategies for the sustainable intensification of cereal production.

KW - climate change

KW - crop yield

KW - food security

KW - maize

KW - nitrous oxide

KW - rice

KW - wheat

KW - yield-scaled emissions

U2 - 10.1111/gcb.17177

DO - 10.1111/gcb.17177

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 38348630

AN - SCOPUS:85185106498

SN - 1354-1013

VL - 30

JO - Global change biology

JF - Global change biology

IS - 2

M1 - e17177