Agricultural management of grain legumes: has it led to an increase in nitrogen fixation?

Kessel, Chris van; Hartley, C. W. S.

doi:10.1016/s0378-4290(99)00085-4

Cited by 309 publications

(210 citation statements)

References 110 publications

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“…Is BNF reduced in the presence of fertilizer N as theory predicts or does moderate fertilization, especially during early development, increase Ndfa over the full growing cycle (van Kessel and Hartley 2000;Ruiz Diaz et al 2009)? Altogether, these uncertainties lead to a very wide range of estimates of the contribution of BNF by crop legumes to the global N cycle (e.g., Smil 1999;Galloway et al 2004;Herridge et al 2008), with estimates ranging between 10 and 32 Tg N r yr -1 . Compared to natural, pre-industrial N fixation of *58 Tg N yr -1 (Vitousek et al 2013) this range represents between 20 and *50 % increase in the global N r pool due to soybean BNF.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A reassessment of the contribution of soybean biological nitrogen fixation to reactive N in the environment

Gelfand

Robertson

2014

Biogeochemistry

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The expansion of soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr) acreage, increasing yields, and recent nitrogen (N) fertilization recommendations could have a major effect on the contribution of biological N fixation (BNF) in soybeans to reactive nitrogen (N r ) in the environment. We used 15 N natural abundance to separate fixed N into grain, aboveground vegetative biomass, and roots along a 9-point N-fertilizer gradient to ask: 1) is the belowground BNF contribution sufficiently different from aboveground to affect regional estimates of soybean N r production based on harvested biomass, and 2) how does N fertilizer affect soybean yield and BNF's contribution to different tissues? The contribution of root and vegetative biomass to overall plant BNF was five times lower than that for grain. Including this difference in BNF extrapolations translates to 3.5 ± 0.5 Tg N r yr -1 for total US soybean production, *37 % lower than earlier estimates that did not differentiate tissue source. Production of N r ranged between 35 ± 11 and 73 ± 5 g Nr kg -1 grain and was affected by both fertilization and irrigation. In all cases N credits to the next rotational crop were minor. N-fertilization at even very low levels (17-50 kg N ha -1 ) did not affect yield, but grain N content increased with fertilizer level. The percent BNF contributed to plant N decreased linearly with increasing fertilization, in grain from 49 ± 8 % in unfertilized plots to a plateau of 16 ± 6 % at fertilization C85 kg N ha -1 ; in aboveground vegetative biomass from 77 ± 4 % to a plateau of 11 ± 11 % at 146 kg N ha -1 ; and in roots from 88 ± 12 % to a plateau of 41 ± 6 % at 146 kg N ha -1 . The average whole-plant BNF contribution decreased from *84 % in unfertilized plots to a plateau of *34 % at fertilization rates greater than 84 kg ha -1 . Results underscore the unnecessary expense and environmental burden of adding N fertilizer to modern soybean varieties, and provide a refined lower estimate for the contribution of soybean N fixation to the US and global N r budgets of 3.5 and 10.4 Tg Nr yr -1 , respectively.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A reassessment of the contribution of soybean biological nitrogen fixation to reactive N in the environment

Gelfand

Robertson

2014

Biogeochemistry

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“…Crop legumes can fix 100-200 kg of N per hectare per year, but rates are often substantially lower, and over the past 25 years, soybeans and other legumes have shown a significant decline in N fixation (28,29). To investigate what may be contributing to such a decline, we directly measured effects of exogenous factors, such as pesticides or environmental chemicals found in cattle feedlot effluent and irrigation water, on symbiotic signaling and SNF among legumes and Rhiz.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Pesticides reduce symbiotic efficiency of nitrogen-fixing rhizobia and host plants

Fox

Gulledge

Engelhaupt

et al. 2007

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

267

141

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Unprecedented agricultural intensification and increased crop yield will be necessary to feed the burgeoning world population, whose global food demand is projected to double in the next 50 years. Although grain production has doubled in the past four decades, largely because of the widespread use of synthetic nitrogenous fertilizers, pesticides, and irrigation promoted by the ''Green Revolution,'' this rate of increased agricultural output is unsustainable because of declining crop yields and environmental impacts of modern agricultural practices. The last 20 years have seen diminishing returns in crop yield in response to increased application of fertilizers, which cannot be completely explained by current ecological models. A common strategy to reduce dependence on nitrogenous fertilizers is the production of leguminous crops, which fix atmospheric nitrogen via symbiosis with nitrogenfixing rhizobia bacteria, in rotation with nonleguminous crops. Here we show previously undescribed in vivo evidence that a subset of organochlorine pesticides, agrichemicals, and environmental contaminants induces a symbiotic phenotype of inhibited or delayed recruitment of rhizobia bacteria to host plant roots, fewer root nodules produced, lower rates of nitrogenase activity, and a reduction in overall plant yield at time of harvest. The environmental consequences of synthetic chemicals compromising symbiotic nitrogen fixation are increased dependence on synthetic nitrogenous fertilizer, reduced soil fertility, and unsustainable long-term crop yields.legume ͉ nitrogen fixation ͉ symbiosis ͉ Sinorhizobium meliloti

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“…Overall, inputs of fixed N are governed by the productivity of the legume as influenced by management, climatic and edaphic conditions and the dependence of the legume on N fixation (Van Kessel & Hartley 2000). The latter is primarily determined by the effectiveness of the host legume -rhizobium symbiosis and has been reported to vary widely both within and between legume species (Peoples et al 1995;Jensen 1997;Unkovich & Pate 2000;Peoples & Baldock 2001).…”

Section: Legume Nitrogen Fixationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Data from temperate Europe and Asia, North America and Australia (Beck et al 1991;Peoples et al 1995;Jensen 1997;Van Kessel & Hartley 2000) show an enormous range in this variable, and it is not surprising that some studies show a positive effect of grain legumes on the soil N balance (Badaruddin & Meyer 1994;White et al 1994;Schwenke et al 1998), whereas others show a neutral or a negative effect (Beck et al 1991;Hossain et al 1996;Armstrong et al 1997). However, most of these N balances have probably underestimated the below-ground input of fixed N by legumes due to problems of root sampling and quantifying root exudates or rhizodeposition (Russell & Fillery 1996;Jørgensen & Ledgard 1997;McNeill et al 1997;Unkovich et al 1997;Rochester et al 1998;Papastylianou 1999;Khan et al 2003;Mayer et al 2003).…”

Section: Legume Nitrogen Fixationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nitrogen and sulphur management: challenges for organic sources in temperate agricultural systems

McNeill¹,

Eriksen²,

Bergström³

et al. 2005

Soil Use and Management

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Abstract. A current global trend towards intensification or specialization of agricultural enterprises has been accompanied by increasing public awareness of associated environmental consequences. Air and water pollution from losses of nutrients, such as nitrogen (N) and sulphur (S), are a major concern. Governments have initiated extensive regulatory frameworks, including various land use policies, in an attempt to control or reduce the losses. This paper presents an overview of critical input and loss processes affecting N and S for temperate climates, and provides some background to the discussion in subsequent papers evaluating specific farming systems. Management effects on potential gaseous and leaching losses, the lack of synchrony between supply of nutrients and plant demand, and options for optimizing the efficiency of N and S use are reviewed. Integration of inorganic and organic fertilizer inputs and the equitable re-distribution of nutrients from manure are discussed. The paper concludes by highlighting a need for innovative research that is also targeted to practical approaches for reducing N and S losses, and improving the overall synchrony between supply and demand.

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Agricultural management of grain legumes: has it led to an increase in nitrogen fixation?

Cited by 309 publications

References 110 publications

A reassessment of the contribution of soybean biological nitrogen fixation to reactive N in the environment

A reassessment of the contribution of soybean biological nitrogen fixation to reactive N in the environment

Pesticides reduce symbiotic efficiency of nitrogen-fixing rhizobia and host plants

Nitrogen and sulphur management: challenges for organic sources in temperate agricultural systems

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