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.