Nitrogen and phosphorus constrain the CO2 fertilization of global plant biomass

César Terrer; Robert B. Jackson; I. Colin Prentice; Trevor F. Keenan; Christina Kaiser; Sara Vicca; Joshua B. Fisher; Peter B. Reich; Benjamin D. Stocker; Bruce A. Hungate; Josep Peñuelas; Ian McCallum; Nadejda A. Soudzilovskaia; Lucas A. Cernusak; Alan F. Talhelm; Kevin Van Sundert; Shilong Piao; Paul C.D. Newton; Mark J. Hovenden; Dana M. Blumenthal; Yi Y. Liu; Christoph Müller; Klaus Winter; Christopher B. Field; Wolfgang Viechtbauer; Caspar J. Van Lissa; Marcel R. Hoosbeek; Makoto Watanabe; Takayoshi Koike; Victor O. Leshyk; H. Wayne Polley; Oskar Franklin

doi:10.1038/s41558-019-0545-2

Nitrogen and phosphorus constrain the CO₂ fertilization of global plant biomass

César Terrer^*
, Robert B. Jackson
, I. Colin Prentice
, Trevor F. Keenan
, Christina Kaiser
, Sara Vicca
, Joshua B. Fisher
, Peter B. Reich
, Benjamin D. Stocker
, Bruce A. Hungate
, Josep Peñuelas
, Ian McCallum
, Nadejda A. Soudzilovskaia
, Lucas A. Cernusak
, Alan F. Talhelm
, Kevin Van Sundert
, Shilong Piao
, Paul C.D. Newton
, Mark J. Hovenden
, Dana M. Blumenthal

Yi Y. Liu, Christoph Müller, Klaus Winter, Christopher B. Field, Wolfgang Viechtbauer, Caspar J. Van Lissa, Marcel R. Hoosbeek, Makoto Watanabe, Takayoshi Koike, Victor O. Leshyk, H. Wayne Polley, Oskar Franklin

^*Corresponding author for this work

Stanford University
Autonomous University of Barcelona
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg
Imperial College London
Macquarie University
Tsinghua University
University of California at Berkeley
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
University of Vienna
University of Antwerp
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
University of California at Los Angeles
University of Minnesota Twin Cities
Western Sydney University
Centre for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications
Northern Arizona University
CSIC
Leiden University
James Cook University Queensland
University of Idaho
Peking University
Chinese Academy of Sciences
AgResearch
University of Tasmania
United States Department of Agriculture
Justus Liebig University Giessen
University College Dublin
Smithsonian Institution
Maastricht University
Wageningen University & Research
Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology
Hokkaido University

Research output: Contribution to journal › Letter › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Elevated CO₂ (eCO₂) experiments provide critical information to quantify the effects of rising CO₂ on vegetation^1–6. Many eCO₂ experiments suggest that nutrient limitations modulate the local magnitude of the eCO₂ effect on plant biomass^1,3,5, but the global extent of these limitations has not been empirically quantified, complicating projections of the capacity of plants to take up CO₂ ^7,8. Here, we present a data-driven global quantification of the eCO₂ effect on biomass based on 138 eCO₂ experiments. The strength of CO₂ fertilization is primarily driven by nitrogen (N) in ~65% of global vegetation and by phosphorus (P) in ~25% of global vegetation, with N- or P-limitation modulated by mycorrhizal association. Our approach suggests that CO₂ levels expected by 2100 can potentially enhance plant biomass by 12 ± 3% above current values, equivalent to 59 ± 13 PgC. The global-scale response to eCO₂ we derive from experiments is similar to past changes in greenness⁹ and biomass¹⁰ with rising CO₂, suggesting that CO₂ will continue to stimulate plant biomass in the future despite the constraining effect of soil nutrients. Our research reconciles conflicting evidence on CO₂ fertilization across scales and provides an empirical estimate of the biomass sensitivity to eCO₂ that may help to constrain climate projections.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	684-689
Number of pages	6
Journal	Nature Climate Change
Volume	9
Issue number	9
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-019-0545-2
Publication status	Published - 1 Sept 2019

Funding

We thank C. Körner, R. Norby, M. Schneider, Y. Carrillo, E. Pendall, B. Kimball, M. Watanabe, T. Koike, G. Smith, S.J. Tumber-Davila, T. Hasegawa, B. Sigurdsson, S. Hasegawa, A.L. Abdalla-Filho and L. Fenstermaker for sharing data and advice. This research is a contribution to the AXA Chair Programme in Biosphere and Climate Impacts and the Imperial College initiative Grand Challenges in Ecosystems and the Environment. Part of this research was developed in the Young Scientists Summer Program at the International Institute for Systems Analysis, Laxenburg (Austria) with financial support from the Natural Environment Research Council (UK). C.T. also acknowledges financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities through the María de Maeztu programme for Units of Excellence (grant no. MDM-2015-0552). I.C.P. acknowledges support from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant no. 787203 REALM). S.V. and K.v.S. acknowledge support from the Fund for Scientific Research, Flanders (Belgium). T.F.K. acknowledges support by the Director, Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research of the US Department of Energy under contract DE-AC02-05CH11231 as part of the RuBiSCo SFA. J.P. acknowledges support from the European Research Council through Synergy grant no. ERC-2013-SyG-610028 ‘IMBALANCE-P’. T.F.K. and J.B.F. were supported in part by NASA IDS Award no. NNH17AE86I. J.B.F. was also supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research. J.B.F. contributed to this research from Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. California Institute of Technology. N.A.S. was supported by Vidi grant no. 016.161.318 by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research. This paper is a contribution to the Global Carbon Project.

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s41558-019-0545-2Final published version, 1.68 MBLicence: Taverne

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Terrer, C., Jackson, R. B., Prentice, I. C., Keenan, T. F., Kaiser, C., Vicca, S., Fisher, J. B., Reich, P. B., Stocker, B. D., Hungate, B. A., Peñuelas, J., McCallum, I., Soudzilovskaia, N. A., Cernusak, L. A., Talhelm, A. F., Van Sundert, K., Piao, S., Newton, P. C. D., Hovenden, M. J., ... Franklin, O. (2019). Nitrogen and phosphorus constrain the CO₂ fertilization of global plant biomass. Nature Climate Change, 9(9), 684-689. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-019-0545-2

@article{77fc78be03f548468b022abaeb874b6d,

title = "Nitrogen and phosphorus constrain the CO2 fertilization of global plant biomass",

abstract = "Elevated CO2 (eCO2) experiments provide critical information to quantify the effects of rising CO2 on vegetation1{\textendash}6. Many eCO2 experiments suggest that nutrient limitations modulate the local magnitude of the eCO2 effect on plant biomass1,3,5, but the global extent of these limitations has not been empirically quantified, complicating projections of the capacity of plants to take up CO2 7,8. Here, we present a data-driven global quantification of the eCO2 effect on biomass based on 138 eCO2 experiments. The strength of CO2 fertilization is primarily driven by nitrogen (N) in \textasciitilde{}65\% of global vegetation and by phosphorus (P) in \textasciitilde{}25\% of global vegetation, with N- or P-limitation modulated by mycorrhizal association. Our approach suggests that CO2 levels expected by 2100 can potentially enhance plant biomass by 12 ± 3\% above current values, equivalent to 59 ± 13 PgC. The global-scale response to eCO2 we derive from experiments is similar to past changes in greenness9 and biomass10 with rising CO2, suggesting that CO2 will continue to stimulate plant biomass in the future despite the constraining effect of soil nutrients. Our research reconciles conflicting evidence on CO2 fertilization across scales and provides an empirical estimate of the biomass sensitivity to eCO2 that may help to constrain climate projections.",

author = "C{\'e}sar Terrer and Jackson, \{Robert B.\} and Prentice, \{I. Colin\} and Keenan, \{Trevor F.\} and Christina Kaiser and Sara Vicca and Fisher, \{Joshua B.\} and Reich, \{Peter B.\} and Stocker, \{Benjamin D.\} and Hungate, \{Bruce A.\} and Josep Pe{\~n}uelas and Ian McCallum and Soudzilovskaia, \{Nadejda A.\} and Cernusak, \{Lucas A.\} and Talhelm, \{Alan F.\} and \{Van Sundert\}, Kevin and Shilong Piao and Newton, \{Paul C.D.\} and Hovenden, \{Mark J.\} and Blumenthal, \{Dana M.\} and Liu, \{Yi Y.\} and Christoph M{\"u}ller and Klaus Winter and Field, \{Christopher B.\} and Wolfgang Viechtbauer and \{Van Lissa\}, \{Caspar J.\} and Hoosbeek, \{Marcel R.\} and Makoto Watanabe and Takayoshi Koike and Leshyk, \{Victor O.\} and Polley, \{H. Wayne\} and Oskar Franklin",

year = "2019",

month = sep,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1038/s41558-019-0545-2",

language = "English",

volume = "9",

pages = "684--689",

journal = "Nature Climate Change",

issn = "1758-678X",

publisher = "Nature Research",

number = "9",

}

Terrer, C, Jackson, RB, Prentice, IC, Keenan, TF, Kaiser, C, Vicca, S, Fisher, JB, Reich, PB, Stocker, BD, Hungate, BA, Peñuelas, J, McCallum, I, Soudzilovskaia, NA, Cernusak, LA, Talhelm, AF, Van Sundert, K, Piao, S, Newton, PCD, Hovenden, MJ, Blumenthal, DM, Liu, YY, Müller, C, Winter, K, Field, CB, Viechtbauer, W, Van Lissa, CJ, Hoosbeek, MR, Watanabe, M, Koike, T, Leshyk, VO, Polley, HW & Franklin, O 2019, 'Nitrogen and phosphorus constrain the CO₂ fertilization of global plant biomass', Nature Climate Change, vol. 9, no. 9, pp. 684-689. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-019-0545-2

TY - JOUR

T1 - Nitrogen and phosphorus constrain the CO2 fertilization of global plant biomass

AU - Terrer, César

AU - Jackson, Robert B.

AU - Prentice, I. Colin

AU - Keenan, Trevor F.

AU - Kaiser, Christina

AU - Vicca, Sara

AU - Fisher, Joshua B.

AU - Reich, Peter B.

AU - Stocker, Benjamin D.

AU - Hungate, Bruce A.

AU - Peñuelas, Josep

AU - McCallum, Ian

AU - Soudzilovskaia, Nadejda A.

AU - Cernusak, Lucas A.

AU - Talhelm, Alan F.

AU - Van Sundert, Kevin

AU - Piao, Shilong

AU - Newton, Paul C.D.

AU - Hovenden, Mark J.

AU - Blumenthal, Dana M.

AU - Liu, Yi Y.

AU - Müller, Christoph

AU - Winter, Klaus

AU - Field, Christopher B.

AU - Viechtbauer, Wolfgang

AU - Van Lissa, Caspar J.

AU - Hoosbeek, Marcel R.

AU - Watanabe, Makoto

AU - Koike, Takayoshi

AU - Leshyk, Victor O.

AU - Polley, H. Wayne

AU - Franklin, Oskar

PY - 2019/9/1

Y1 - 2019/9/1

N2 - Elevated CO2 (eCO2) experiments provide critical information to quantify the effects of rising CO2 on vegetation1–6. Many eCO2 experiments suggest that nutrient limitations modulate the local magnitude of the eCO2 effect on plant biomass1,3,5, but the global extent of these limitations has not been empirically quantified, complicating projections of the capacity of plants to take up CO2 7,8. Here, we present a data-driven global quantification of the eCO2 effect on biomass based on 138 eCO2 experiments. The strength of CO2 fertilization is primarily driven by nitrogen (N) in ~65% of global vegetation and by phosphorus (P) in ~25% of global vegetation, with N- or P-limitation modulated by mycorrhizal association. Our approach suggests that CO2 levels expected by 2100 can potentially enhance plant biomass by 12 ± 3% above current values, equivalent to 59 ± 13 PgC. The global-scale response to eCO2 we derive from experiments is similar to past changes in greenness9 and biomass10 with rising CO2, suggesting that CO2 will continue to stimulate plant biomass in the future despite the constraining effect of soil nutrients. Our research reconciles conflicting evidence on CO2 fertilization across scales and provides an empirical estimate of the biomass sensitivity to eCO2 that may help to constrain climate projections.

AB - Elevated CO2 (eCO2) experiments provide critical information to quantify the effects of rising CO2 on vegetation1–6. Many eCO2 experiments suggest that nutrient limitations modulate the local magnitude of the eCO2 effect on plant biomass1,3,5, but the global extent of these limitations has not been empirically quantified, complicating projections of the capacity of plants to take up CO2 7,8. Here, we present a data-driven global quantification of the eCO2 effect on biomass based on 138 eCO2 experiments. The strength of CO2 fertilization is primarily driven by nitrogen (N) in ~65% of global vegetation and by phosphorus (P) in ~25% of global vegetation, with N- or P-limitation modulated by mycorrhizal association. Our approach suggests that CO2 levels expected by 2100 can potentially enhance plant biomass by 12 ± 3% above current values, equivalent to 59 ± 13 PgC. The global-scale response to eCO2 we derive from experiments is similar to past changes in greenness9 and biomass10 with rising CO2, suggesting that CO2 will continue to stimulate plant biomass in the future despite the constraining effect of soil nutrients. Our research reconciles conflicting evidence on CO2 fertilization across scales and provides an empirical estimate of the biomass sensitivity to eCO2 that may help to constrain climate projections.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85070793012

U2 - 10.1038/s41558-019-0545-2

DO - 10.1038/s41558-019-0545-2

M3 - Letter

AN - SCOPUS:85070793012

SN - 1758-678X

VL - 9

SP - 684

EP - 689

JO - Nature Climate Change

JF - Nature Climate Change

IS - 9

ER -

Nitrogen and phosphorus constrain the CO₂ fertilization of global plant biomass

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