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Elevated CO2 and warming intensify plant reliance on soil nitrogen reserves despite intensive fertilization.
Nat. Commun. 17:5979 (2026)
Understanding how ecosystems sustain plant nitrogen (N) supply under climate change is critical, yet whether increasing plant N demand is met by external inputs or mobilization of soil N reserves remains unresolved. Here we show that climate change increases plant reliance on soil N reserves despite intensive fertilization. Using a two-year 15N-tracing experiment combining elevated CO2, warming, and drought in a montane grassland, we found that plants obtained 82-88% of their N from soil and acquired 4.6-7.3 times more N from soil than from fertilizer despite high N inputs. Elevated CO2 and warming increased plant uptake of soil-derived N but not fertilizer N. Consequently, plant N export exceeded fertilizer inputs, causing ecosystem N deficits and depletion of soil N stocks, with the strongest soil N mining under combined elevated CO2 and warming. Our findings reveal that climate change accelerates biological mining of soil N reserves, potentially constraining the long-term sustainability of intensively managed agroecosystems.
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Publication type
Article: Journal article
Document type
Scientific Article
Keywords
Fertilizer ; Ecosystem ; Climate Change ; Nitrogen ; Human Fertilization ; Global Warming ; Nitrogen Fertilizer ; Nitrogen Cycle
ISSN (print) / ISBN
2041-1723
e-ISSN
2041-1723
Journal
Nature Communications
Quellenangaben
Volume: 17,
Issue: 1,
Article Number: 5979
Publisher
Springer
Publishing Place
London
Reviewing status
Peer reviewed
Institute(s)
Research Unit Comparative Microbiome Analysis (COMI)
Helmholtz AI - KIT (HAI - KIT)
Helmholtz AI - KIT (HAI - KIT)