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Food Benefit and Climate Warming Potential of Nitrogen Fertilizer Uses in China
Environmental Research Letters (2012)
  • Hanqin Tian, Auburn University Main Campus
  • Chaoqun (Crystal) Lu, Auburn University Main Campus
  • Jerry Melillo
  • Wei Ren, Auburn University Main Campus
  • Yao Huang, Chinese Academy of Sciences
  • Xiaofeng Xu, Auburn University Main Campus
  • Mingliang Liu, Auburn University Main Campus
  • Chi Zhang, Auburn University Main Campus
  • Guangsheng Chen
  • Shufen Pan
  • Jiyuan Liu, Chinese Academy of Sciences
  • John Reilly, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract

Chemical nitrogen (N) fertilizer has long been used to help meet the increasing food demands in China, the top N fertilizer consumer in the world. Growing concerns have been raised on the impacts of N fertilizer uses on food security and climate change, which is lack of quantification. Here we use a carbon–nitrogen (C–N) coupled ecosystem model, to quantify the food benefit and climate consequence of agronomic N addition in China over the six decades from 1949 to 2008. Results show that N fertilizer-induced crop yield and soil C sequestration had reached their peaks, while nitrous oxide (N2O) emission continued rising as N was added. Since the early 2000s, stimulation of excessive N fertilizer uses to global climate warming through N2O emission was estimated to outweigh their climate benefit in increasing CO2 uptake. The net warming effect of N fertilizer uses, mainly centered in the North China Plain and the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River Basin, with N2O emission completely counteracting or even exceeding, by more than a factor of 2, the CO2 sink. If we reduced the current N fertilizer level by 60% in ‘over-fertilized’ areas, N2O emission would substantially decrease without significantly influencing crop yield and soil C sequestration.

Keywords
  • China,
  • crop yield,
  • CO2 uptake,
  • N2O emission,
  • nitrogen fertilizer
Publication Date
2012
Publisher Statement
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation Information
Hanqin Tian, Chaoqun (Crystal) Lu, Jerry Melillo, Wei Ren, et al.. "Food Benefit and Climate Warming Potential of Nitrogen Fertilizer Uses in China" Environmental Research Letters Vol. 7 (2012)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/chaoqun_lu/11/