Rethinking sources of nitrogen to cereal crops
Open accessAbstract
Understanding how to manage N inputs to identify the practices that maximize N recovery has been an organizing principle of agronomic research. Because growth in N fertilizer inputs is expected to continue in an ongoing effort to boost crop production over coming decades, understanding how to efficiently manage recovery of fertilizer N will be important going forward. Yet synthesis of published data that has traced the fate of 15 N‐labeled fertilizer shows that less than half of the N taken up by crops is derived from current‐year N fertilizer. The source of the majority of N in crops is something other than current‐year fertilizer and the sources are not really known. This is true for maize (only 41% of N in crops was from current‐year N fertilizer), rice (32%), and small grains (37%). Recovery of organic fertilizer N (manure, green manure, compost, etc.) in crops is low (27%), though N recovery in subsequent years (10%) was greater than that for mineral fertilizers. Thus, while research on efficiency of N fertilizer use through improved rate, type, location, and timing is important, this research fails to directly address management of the majority of the N supplied to crops. It seems likely that the majority of non‐fertilizer N found in crops comes from turnover of soil and crop residue N. We encourage the research community to revisit the mental model that fertilizer is a replacement for N supply from turnover of soil organic N (SON) and consider a model in which N fertilizer augments ongoing SON turnover and makes an important longer term contribution to SON maintenance and turnover. Research focused on the efficient recovery of N current‐year fertilizer inputs neglects this potential role for building soil N and managing soil N turnover, which seems likely to be the most important source of crop N.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
It is estimated that only 30%-40% of the current year's applied N fertilizer is taken up by crops, with the remainder remaining in the soil or lost out of the cropping system into the air and water.
“It is estimated that only 30%-40% of the current year's applied N fertilizer is taken up by crops, with the remainder remaining in the soil or lost out of the cropping system into the air and water (Yan et al., 2020;He et al., 2021;Gao et al., 2022).”
From Genetic resources and precise gene editing for targeted improvement of barley abiotic stress tolerance (2023) · cites this paper as Yan et al., 2020
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Global Consequences of Land Use
Foley, J. A., DeFries, R., Asner, G. P., Barford, C., Bonan, G., Carpenter, S. R., Chapin, F. S., Coe, M. T., Daily, G. C., Gibbs, H. K., et al. (2005) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1111772 · Cited by 13,272 · see citing works
Food Security: The Challenge of Feeding 9 Billion People
Godfray, H. C. J., Beddington, J. R., Crute, I. R., Haddad, L., Lawrence, D., Muir, J. F., Pretty, J., Robinson, S., Thomas, S. M., & Toulmin, C. (2010) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1185383 · Cited by 11,943 · see citing works
Solutions for a cultivated planet
Foley, J. A., Ramankutty, N., Brauman, K. A., Cassidy, E. S., Gerber, J. S., Johnston, M., Mueller, N. D., O’Connell, C., Ray, D. K., West, P. C., et al. (2011) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature10452 · Cited by 8,476 · see citing works
THE VERTICAL DISTRIBUTION OF SOIL ORGANIC CARBON AND ITS RELATION TO CLIMATE AND VEGETATION
Jobbagy, E. G., & Jackson, R. B. (2000) · Ecological Applications · doi:10.1890/1051-0761(2000)010[0423:tvdoso]2.0.co;2 · Cited by 5,473 · see citing works
Managing nitrogen for sustainable development.
Zhang, X., Davidson, E. A., Mauzerall, D. L., Searchinger, T. D., Dumas, P., & Shen, Y. (2015) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature15743 · Cited by 3,054 · see citing works
Improving Nitrogen Use Efficiency for Cereal Production
Raun, W. R., & Johnson, G. V. (1999) · Agronomy Journal · doi:10.2134/agronj1999.00021962009100030001x · Cited by 1,923 · see citing works
Global inputs of biological nitrogen fixation in agricultural systems
HERRIDGE, D. F., Peoples, M. B., & Boddey, R. M. (2008) · Plant and Soil · doi:10.1007/s11104-008-9668-3 · Cited by 1,803 · see citing works
Nutrient Imbalances in Agricultural Development
Vitousek, P. M., Naylor, R. L., Crews, T. E., David, M. B., Drinkwater, L. E., Holland, E. A., Johnes, P. J., Katzenberger, J. W., Martinelli, L. A., Matson, P. A., et al. (2009) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1170261 · Cited by 1,454 · see citing works
Efficiency of Fertilizer Nitrogen in Cereal Production: Retrospects and Prospects
Ladha, J. K., Pathak, H. K., Krupnik, T. J., Six, J., & van Kessel, C. (2005) · Advances in agronomy · doi:10.1016/s0065-2113(05)87003-8 · Cited by 1,297 · see citing works
Nitrogen and sulfur deposition on regional and global scales: A multimodel evaluation
Dentener, F. J., Drevet, J., Lamarque, J., Bey, I., Eickhout, B., Fiore, A. M., Hauglustaine, D. A., Horowitz, L. W., Krol, M., Kulshrestha, U. C., et al. (2006) · Global Biogeochemical Cycles · doi:10.1029/2005gb002672 · Cited by 1,293 · see citing works
Lassaletta, L., Billen, G., Grizzetti, B., Anglade, J., & Garnier, J. (2014) · Environmental Research Letters · doi:10.1088/1748-9326/9/10/105011 · Cited by 1,219 · see citing works
Xu, X., THORNTON, P. E., & Post, W. M. (2012) · Global Ecology and Biogeography · doi:10.1111/geb.12029 · Cited by 1,143 · see citing works
Bouwman, L., Goldewijk, K. K., van der Hoek, K. W., Beusen, A. H. W., van Vuuren, D. P., Willems, J., Rufino, M. C., & Stehfest, E. (2011) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1012878108 · Cited by 1,052 · see citing works
Global change pressures on soils from land use and management
Smith, P., House, J. I., Bustamante, M., Sobocká, J., Harper, R. J., Pan, G., West, P. C., Clark, J. M., Adhya, T. K., Rumpel, C., et al. (2015) · Global Change Biology · doi:10.1111/gcb.13068 · Cited by 1,043 · see citing works
Self-citationNitrogen in crop production: An account of global flows
Smil, V. (1999) · Global Biogeochemical Cycles · doi:10.1029/1999gb900015 · Cited by 986 · see citing works
Interactions between fertilizer nitrogen and soil nitrogen—the so‐called ‘priming’ effect
Jenkinson, D. S., Fox, R. H., & Rayner, J. H. (1985) · Journal of Soil Science · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2389.1985.tb00348.x · Cited by 800 · see citing works
Long-term fate of nitrate fertilizer in agricultural soils
Sébilo, M., Mayer, B., Nicolardot, B., Pinay, G., & Mariotti, A. A. (2013) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1305372110 · Cited by 704 · see citing works
The future of the global food system
Godfray, H. C. J., Crute, I. R., Haddad, L., Lawrence, D., Muir, J., Nisbett, N., Pretty, J., Robinson, S., Toulmin, C., & Whiteley, R. (2010) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2010.0180 · Cited by 683 · see citing works
A high-resolution assessment on global nitrogen flows in cropland
Liu, J., You, L., Amini, M., Obersteiner, M. H., Herrero, M., Zehnder, A. J. B., & Yang, H. (2010) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.0913658107 · Cited by 620 · see citing works
Modeling Soil Organic Matter in Organic‐Amended and Nitrogen‐Fertilized Long‐Term Plots
Paustian, K. H., Parton, W. J., & Persson, J. (1992) · Soil Science Society of America Journal · doi:10.2136/sssaj1992.03615995005600020023x · Cited by 611 · see citing works
Ladha, J. K., Tirol‐Padre, A., Reddy, C. K., et al. (2016) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/srep19355 · Cited by 600 · see citing works
Use of Tracers For Soil And Fertilizer Nitrogen Research
Hauck, R. D., & Bremner, J. M. (1976) · Advances in agronomy · doi:10.1016/s0065-2113(08)60556-8 · Cited by 567 · see citing works
Nutrients in Agroecosystems: Rethinking the Management Paradigm
Drinkwater, L. E., & Snapp, S. S. (2006) · Advances in agronomy · doi:10.1016/s0065-2113(04)92003-2 · Cited by 502 · see citing works
The nitrogen legacy: emerging evidence of nitrogen accumulation in anthropogenic landscapes
Meter, K. J. V., Basu, N. B., Veenstra, J. J., & Burras, C. L. (2016) · Environmental Research Letters · doi:10.1088/1748-9326/11/3/035014 · Cited by 429 · see citing works
Nitrogen Use in the United States from 1961–2000 and Potential Future Trends
Howarth, R. W., Boyer, E. W., Pabich, W. J., et al. (2002) · AMBIO · doi:10.1579/0044-7447-31.2.88 · Cited by 424 · see citing works
Patterns of new versus recycled primary production in the terrestrial biosphere
Cleveland, C. C., Houlton, B. Z., Smith, W. K., Marklein, A., Reed, S. C., Parton, W. J., Grosso, S. J. D., & Running, S. W. (2013) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1302768110 · Cited by 384 · see citing works
Crop Residues: Agriculture's Largest Harvest
Smil, V. (1999) · BioScience · doi:10.2307/1313613 · Cited by 359 · see citing works
The fate of nitrogen in grain cropping systems: a meta‐analysis of <sup>15</sup> N field experiments
Gardner, J. B., & Drinkwater, L. E. (2009) · Ecological Applications · doi:10.1890/08-1122.1 · Cited by 319 · see citing works
Food and feed trade as a driver in the global nitrogen cycle: 50-year trends
Lassaletta, L., Billen, G., Grizzetti, B., Garnier, J. A., Leach, A. M., & Galloway, J. N. (2013) · Biogeochemistry · doi:10.1007/s10533-013-9923-4 · Cited by 315 · see citing works
The fate of nitrogen in agroecosystems: An illustration using Canadian estimates
Janzen, H. H., Beauchemin, K. A., Bruinsma, Y., Campbell, C. A., Desjardins, R. L., Ellert, B. H., & Smith, E. G. (2003) · Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems · doi:10.1023/a:1025195826663 · Cited by 211 · see citing works
Patterns and trends in nitrogen use and nitrogen recovery efficiency in world agriculture
Conant, R. T., Berdanier, A. B., & Grace, P. (2013) · Global Biogeochemical Cycles · doi:10.1002/gbc.20053 · Cited by 201 · see citing works
Self-citationTurner, M. G., Smithwick, E. A. H., Metzger, K. L., Tinker, D. B., & Romme, W. H. (2007) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.0700180104 · Cited by 178 · see citing works
Yan, X., Ti, C., Vitousek, P. M., et al. (2014) · Environmental Research Letters · doi:10.1088/1748-9326/9/9/095002 · Cited by 160 · see citing works
A conceptual model for conducting nutrient audits at national, regional, and global scales
Sheldrick, W. F., Syers, J. K., & Lingard, J. (2002) · Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems · doi:10.1023/a:1015124930280 · Cited by 158 · see citing works
A tradeoff frontier for global nitrogen use and cereal production
Mueller, N. D., West, P. C., Gerber, J., MacDonald, G. K., Polasky, S., & Foley, J. A. (2014) · Environmental Research Letters · doi:10.1088/1748-9326/9/5/054002 · Cited by 147 · see citing works
The next green movement: Plant biology for the environment and sustainability
Jez, J. M., Lee, S. G., & Sherp, A. M. (2016) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.aag1698 · Cited by 144 · see citing works
The Role of Soil Organic Matter for Maintaining Crop Yields: Evidence for a Renewed Conceptual Basis
Schjønning, P., Jensen, J. L., Bruun, S., Jensen, L. S., Christensen, B. T., Munkholm, L. J., Oelofse, M., Baby, S., & Knudsen, L. (2018) · Advances in agronomy · doi:10.1016/bs.agron.2018.03.001 · Cited by 115 · see citing works
Priming Effect of 15 N‐Labeled Fertilizers on Soil Nitrogen in Field Experiments
Westerman, R. L., & Kurtz, L. T. (1973) · Soil Science Society of America Journal · doi:10.2136/sssaj1973.03615995003700050028x · Cited by 94 · see citing works
Poffenbarger, H., Sawyer, J. E., Barker, D. W., Olk, D. C., Six, J., & Castellano, M. J. (2018) · Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment · doi:10.1016/j.agee.2018.07.005 · Cited by 86 · see citing works
Advances in Applied Microbiology
(2016) · Advances in applied microbiology · doi:10.1016/s0065-2164(16)30116-2 · Cited by 80 · see citing works
The Importance of the Microbial N Cycle in Soil for Crop Plant Nutrition.
Hirsch, P., & Mauchline, T. (2015) · Advances in Applied Microbiology · doi:10.1016/bs.aambs.2015.09.001 · Cited by 77 · see citing works
Eagle, A. J., Bird, J. A., Hill, J. E., et al. (2001) · Agronomy Journal · doi:10.2134/agronj2001.1346 · Cited by 75 · see citing works
Nitrogen balances and nitrogen-use efficiency of different organic and conventional farming systems
Lin, H.-C., Huber, J. A., Gerl, G., & Hülsbergen, K. (2016) · Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems · doi:10.1007/s10705-016-9770-5 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
Stable Nitrogen and Carbon Pools in Grassland Soils of Variable Texture and Carbon Content
Kaye, J. P., Barrett, J., & Burke, I. C. (2002) · Ecosystems · doi:10.1007/s10021-002-0142-4 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
An Assessment of Fertilizer Nitrogen Recovery Efficiency by Grain Crops
Krupnik, T. J., Six, J., Ladha, J. K., et al. (2013) · Princeton University Press eBooks · doi:10.2307/jj.41003854.20 · Cited by 68 · see citing works
Dobermann, A., Cassman, K. G., Mosier, A. R., et al. (2004) · Cited by 63 · see citing works
The availability of the nitrogen in the crop residues of winter wheat to subsequent crops
Hart, P. B. S., Powlson, D. S., Poulton, P. R., Johnston, A. E., & Jenkinson, D. S. (1993) · The Journal of Agricultural Science · doi:10.1017/s0021859600085555 · Cited by 62 · see citing works
Yoneyama, T., Terakado‐Tonooka, J., & Minamisawa, K. (2017) · Soil Science & Plant Nutrition · doi:10.1080/00380768.2017.1407625 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
Worrall, F., Howden, N. J. K., & Burt, T. (2015) · Biogeochemistry · doi:10.1007/s10533-015-0074-7 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
N-related greenhouse gases in North America: innovations for a sustainable future
Davidson, E. A., Galloway, J., Millar, N., & Leach, A. M. (2014) · Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability · doi:10.1016/j.cosust.2014.07.003 · Cited by 48 · see citing works
Massel, K., Campbell, B. C., Mace, E., Tai, S., Tao, Y., Worland, B., Jordan, D. R., Botella, J. R., & Godwin, I. D. (2016) · Frontiers in Plant Science · doi:10.3389/fpls.2016.01544 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Agriculture and the Nitrogen Cycle
Clough, T. J. (2005) · Journal of Environmental Quality · doi:10.2134/jeq2005.0009br · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Management of crop residues for sustainable crop production
Boateng, S. A., & Dennis, E. A. (2001) · Journal of the Ghana Science Association · doi:10.4314/jgsa.v3i2.17914 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Lewis, D. B., Kaye, J. P., & Kinzig, A. P. (2014) · Ecosphere · doi:10.1890/es13-00400.1 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Estimating Annual Soil Carbon Loss in Agricultural Peatland Soils Using a Nitrogen Budget Approach
Kirk, E. R., van Kessel, C., Horwáth, W. R., et al. (2015) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0121432 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Are Soil Mineralizable Nitrogen Pools Replenished during the Growing Season in Agricultural Soils?
Dessureault‐Rompré, J., Zebarth, B. J., Burton, D. L., Gregorich, E. G., Goyer, C., Georgallas, A., & Grant, C. A. (2013) · Soil Science Society of America Journal · doi:10.2136/sssaj2012.0328 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Residual Fertilizer, Crop Sequence, and Water Availability Impact Rotational Nitrogen Balances
Maaz, T. M., & Pan, W. L. (2017) · Agronomy Journal · doi:10.2134/agronj2016.08.0457 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Nitrogen balance in century-old wheat experiments
Karimi, R., Janzen, H. H., Smith, E. G., et al. (2017) · Canadian Journal of Soil Science · doi:10.1139/cjss-2016-0118 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Effect of moisture regime on recovery and utilization of fertilizer N applied to corn
Torbert, H. A., Hoeft, R. G., Heuvel, R. M. V., et al. (1992) · Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis · doi:10.1080/00103629209368676 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Peng, J., Han, X., Li, N., Chen, K., Yang, J., Zhan, X., Luo, P., & Liu, N. (2021) · Biochar · doi:10.1007/s42773-021-00090-6 · Cited by 100 · see citing works
Karunarathne, S., Walker, E., Sharma, D., Li, C., & Han, Y. (2023) · Journal of Zhejiang University-SCIENCE B · doi:10.1631/jzus.b2200552 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
“It is estimated that only 30%–40% of the current year’s applied N fertilizer is taken up by crops, with the remainder remaining in the soil or lost out of the cropping system into the air and water (Yan et al., 2020; He et al., 2021; Gao et al., 2022).”
- Authors
- Yan, M., Pan, G., Lavallee, J. M., & Conant, R. T.
- Affiliations
- Nanjing Agricultural University (CN)
- Colorado State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Conant, Richard T.
- Venue
- Global Change Biology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2019-12-02
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 191-199
- ISSN
- 1354-1013 (ISSN-L)
- 1365-2486
- OpenAlex
- W2990732594
- Cited by
- 202
- References
- 59
- Citations by year
- 2026: 31 · 2025: 35 · 2024: 35 · 2023: 35 · 2022: 33 · 2021: 24 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 1
- FWCI
- 1.35
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Global Change Biology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA‐OAR‐CCD‐09‐07)
- China Scholarship Council
- United States Agency for International Development (2010‐67004‐21813)
- U.S. Department of Agriculture (NIFA 2014‐01638)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Agricultural Science and Fertilization
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Soil and Water Nutrient Dynamics
- Keywords
- nitrogen source, cereals, nitrogen fertilization, nitrogen recovery, 15N-labelled fertilizer, soil organic nitrogen, crop residue nitrogen, soil nitrogen cycling, organic fertilizer, maize, rice, small grains, nitrogen use efficiency
- MeSH terms
- Agriculture, Edible Grain, Fertilizers, Manure, Nitrogen, Soil, Crops, Agricultural
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
