Effects of winter soil warming on crop biomass carbon loss from organic matter degradation
Global warming poses an unprecedented threat to agroecosystems. Although temperature increases are more pronounced during winter than in other seasons, the impact of winter warming on crop biomass carbon has not been elucidated. Here we integrate global observational data with a decade-long field experiment to uncover a significant negative correlation between winter soil temperature and crop biomass carbon. For every degree Celsius increase in winter soil temperature, straw and grain biomass carbon decreased by 6.6 ( ± 1.7) g kg<sup>-1</sup> and 10.2 ( ± 2.3) g kg<sup>-1</sup>, respectively. This decline is primarily attributed to the loss of soil organic matter and micronutrients induced by warming. Ignoring the adverse effects of winter warming on crop biomass carbon could result in an overestimation of total food production by 4% to 19% under future warming scenarios. Our research highlights the critical need to incorporate winter warming into agricultural productivity models for more effective climate adaptation strategies.
Authors
- Han Hu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2918-8329)
- Jizhong Z. Zhou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2014-0564)
- Haowei Ni
- Jiabao Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6922-0480)
- Constantin M. Zohner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8302-4854)
- Xiaoyuan Yan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8645-4836)
- Thomas Ward Crowther (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5674-8913)
- Ji Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7026-6312)
- Yishen Sun
- Jixian Ding
- Yuting Liang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5443-4486)
- Weigen Huang
Institutions
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Aarhus University (DK)
- ETH Zurich (CH)
- Danish Cattle Research Centre (DK)
- Institute of Earth Environment (CN)
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Institute of Soil Science (CN)
- University of Oklahoma (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2024-10-14
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-53216-2
- Citations
- 22
- Primary Topic
- Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 7.34
Funders
- Chinese Academy of Sciences
- Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province
- Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
- Youth Innovation Promotion Association