Frequent Failure of Nutrients to Increase Plant Biomass Supports the Need for Precision Fertilization in Agriculture

Authors

Oliver H. Carroll, University of Guelph
Eric W. Seabloom, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Elizabeth T. Borer, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
W. Stanley. Harpole, Leipzig University, Germany
Peter Wilfahrt, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Carlos A. Arnillas, University of Toronto, Scarborough
Jonathan D. Bakker, University of Washington - Seattle Campus
Dana M. Blumenthal, USDA-ARS
Elizabeth Boughton, Archbold Biological Station, USA
Miguel N. Bugalho, University of Lisbon, Portugal
Maria Caldeira, University of Lisbon, Portugal
Malcolm M. Campbell, Laurentian University of Sudbury and University of Guelph
Jane Catford, King’s College, London
Qingqing Chen, Leipzig University, Germany
Christopher R. Dickman, University of Sydney, Australia
Ian Donohue, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
Mary Ellyn DuPre, MPG Ranch, USA
Anu Eskelinen, University of Oulu
Catalina Estrada, Imperial College London
Philip A. Fay, USDA Agricultural Research Service, USA
Evan D. G. Fraser, University of Guelph
Nicole Hagenah, University of Pretoria
Yann Hautier, Utrecht University
Erika Hersh-Green, Michigan Technical University
Ingibjörg S. Jónsdóttir, University of Iceland
Taku Kadoya, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan
Kimberly Komatsu, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Luciola Lannes, State University of Sao Paulo
Maowei Liang, University of Minnesota-East Bethel
Harry Olde. Venterink, Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Pablo Peri, Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral
Sally A. Power, Western Sydney University, Australia
Jodi N. Price, Charles Sturt University
Zhengwei Ren, Lanzhou University
Anita C. Risch, The Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL
Grégory Sonnier, Archbold Biological Station, USA
G. F. Veen, Netherlands Institute of Ecology
Risto Virtanen, University of Oulu
Glenda M. Wardle, The University of Sydney, Australia
Elizabeth F. Waring, Northeastern State University
George Wheeler, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Laura Yahdjian, Universidad de Buenos Aires
Andrew S. MacDougall, University of Guelph

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2025

Citation

Scientific Reports (2025) 15: 14564

doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-99071-z

Comments

United States government work. Public domain

Abstract

Implementing precision fertilization to maximize crop yield while minimizing economic and environmental impacts has become critical for agriculture. Variability in biomass response to fertilization within fields, among regions, and over time creates simultaneous risks of under-yielding and overfertilization. We quantify factors determining fertilization responsiveness (i.e., biomass increases with fertilization) up to 15 years in 61 unfertilized rangelands on six continents. We demonstrate widespread multi-year variability in responsiveness, with fertilization increasing average yield by 43% but failing to improve biomass 26% of the time. All sites were responsive at least once, but only four of 61 responded in all plots and years. Modelled management scenarios highlighted that fertilizer cessation is likely to generate sizable economic savings but always reduces yield because of the difficulty in predicting when and where biomass will be unresponsive. This work reveals substantial scale-dependent variability in fertilization responsiveness globally, while clarifying the prospects and pitfalls of managing more spatially and temporally precise nutrient application.