Nutrient supply affects the yield stability of major European crops—a 50 year study
Yield stability is important for food security and a sustainable crop production, especially under changing climatic conditions. It is well known that the variability of yields is linked to changes in meteorological conditions. However, little is known about the long-term effects of agronomic manage...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2020-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abc849 |
| _version_ | 1797747693377814528 |
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| author | Hella Ellen Ahrends Stefan Siebert Ehsan Eyshi Rezaei Sabine Julia Seidel Hubert Hüging Frank Ewert Thomas Döring Victor Rueda-Ayala Werner Eugster Thomas Gaiser |
| author_facet | Hella Ellen Ahrends Stefan Siebert Ehsan Eyshi Rezaei Sabine Julia Seidel Hubert Hüging Frank Ewert Thomas Döring Victor Rueda-Ayala Werner Eugster Thomas Gaiser |
| author_sort | Hella Ellen Ahrends |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Yield stability is important for food security and a sustainable crop production, especially under changing climatic conditions. It is well known that the variability of yields is linked to changes in meteorological conditions. However, little is known about the long-term effects of agronomic management strategies, such as the supply of important nutrients. We analysed the stability of four major European crops grown between 1955 and 2008 at a long-term fertilization experiment located in Germany. Six fertilizer treatments ranged from no fertilization over the omission of individual macronutrients to complete mineral fertilization with all major macronutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and calcium). Yield stability was estimated for each crop × treatment combination using the relative yield deviation in each year from the corresponding (nonlinear) trend value (relative yield anomalies (RYA)). Stability was lowest for potato, followed by sugar beet and winter wheat and highest for winter rye. Stability was highest when soils had received all nutrients with the standard deviation of RYA being two to three times lower than for unfertilized plots. The omission of nitrogen and potassium was associated with a decrease in yield stability and a decrease in the number of simultaneous positive and negative yield anomalies among treatments. Especially in root crops nutrient supply strongly influenced both annual yield anomalies and changes in anomalies over time. During the second half of the observation period yield stability decreased for sugar beet and increased for winter wheat. Potato yields were more stable during the second period, but only under complete nutrient supply. The critical role of potassium supply for yield stability suggests potential links to changes in the water balance during the last decades. Results demonstrate the need to explicitly consider the response of crops to long-term nutrient supply for understanding and predicting changes in yield stability. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:54:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ead69cf2ed814f65a30836c15d53439c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:54:21Z |
| publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-ead69cf2ed814f65a30836c15d53439c2023-08-09T15:00:02ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262020-01-0116101400310.1088/1748-9326/abc849Nutrient supply affects the yield stability of major European crops—a 50 year studyHella Ellen Ahrends0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7790-847XStefan Siebert1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9998-0672Ehsan Eyshi Rezaei2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2603-8034Sabine Julia Seidel3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3283-8361Hubert Hüging4Frank Ewert5Thomas Döring6Victor Rueda-Ayala7Werner Eugster8https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6067-0741Thomas Gaiser9Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation (INRES), University of Bonn , Bonn, GermanyDepartment of Crop Sciences, University of Göttingen , Göttingen, GermanyDepartment of Crop Sciences, University of Göttingen , Göttingen, Germany; Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) , Müncheberg, GermanyInstitute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation (INRES), University of Bonn , Bonn, GermanyInstitute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation (INRES), University of Bonn , Bonn, GermanyInstitute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation (INRES), University of Bonn , Bonn, Germany; Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) , Müncheberg, GermanyInstitute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation (INRES), University of Bonn , Bonn, GermanyNorwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO) , Klepp Stasjon, NorwayDepartment of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zürich , Zürich, SwitzerlandInstitute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation (INRES), University of Bonn , Bonn, GermanyYield stability is important for food security and a sustainable crop production, especially under changing climatic conditions. It is well known that the variability of yields is linked to changes in meteorological conditions. However, little is known about the long-term effects of agronomic management strategies, such as the supply of important nutrients. We analysed the stability of four major European crops grown between 1955 and 2008 at a long-term fertilization experiment located in Germany. Six fertilizer treatments ranged from no fertilization over the omission of individual macronutrients to complete mineral fertilization with all major macronutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and calcium). Yield stability was estimated for each crop × treatment combination using the relative yield deviation in each year from the corresponding (nonlinear) trend value (relative yield anomalies (RYA)). Stability was lowest for potato, followed by sugar beet and winter wheat and highest for winter rye. Stability was highest when soils had received all nutrients with the standard deviation of RYA being two to three times lower than for unfertilized plots. The omission of nitrogen and potassium was associated with a decrease in yield stability and a decrease in the number of simultaneous positive and negative yield anomalies among treatments. Especially in root crops nutrient supply strongly influenced both annual yield anomalies and changes in anomalies over time. During the second half of the observation period yield stability decreased for sugar beet and increased for winter wheat. Potato yields were more stable during the second period, but only under complete nutrient supply. The critical role of potassium supply for yield stability suggests potential links to changes in the water balance during the last decades. Results demonstrate the need to explicitly consider the response of crops to long-term nutrient supply for understanding and predicting changes in yield stability.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abc849crop yieldyield anomaliesrisklong-term datafertilizationpotassium |
| spellingShingle | Hella Ellen Ahrends Stefan Siebert Ehsan Eyshi Rezaei Sabine Julia Seidel Hubert Hüging Frank Ewert Thomas Döring Victor Rueda-Ayala Werner Eugster Thomas Gaiser Nutrient supply affects the yield stability of major European crops—a 50 year study Environmental Research Letters crop yield yield anomalies risk long-term data fertilization potassium |
| title | Nutrient supply affects the yield stability of major European crops—a 50 year study |
| title_full | Nutrient supply affects the yield stability of major European crops—a 50 year study |
| title_fullStr | Nutrient supply affects the yield stability of major European crops—a 50 year study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Nutrient supply affects the yield stability of major European crops—a 50 year study |
| title_short | Nutrient supply affects the yield stability of major European crops—a 50 year study |
| title_sort | nutrient supply affects the yield stability of major european crops a 50 year study |
| topic | crop yield yield anomalies risk long-term data fertilization potassium |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abc849 |
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