Abstract
Knowledge-based nitrogen (N) management provides better synchronization of crop N demand with N supply to enhance crop production while reducing N losses. Yet, how these N management practices contribute to reducing N losses globally is unclear. Here we compiled 5,448 paired observations from 336 publications representing 286 sites to assess the impacts of four common knowledge-based N management practices, including balanced fertilization, organic fertilization, co-application of synthetic and organic fertilizers, and nitrification inhibitors, on global ecosystem N cycling. We found that organic and balanced fertilization rather than N-only fertilization stimulated soil nitrate retention by enhancing microbial biomass, but also stimulated soil N leaching and emissions relative to no fertilizer addition. Nitrification inhibitors, however, stimulated soil ammonium retention and plant N uptake while reducing N leaching and emissions. Therefore, integrative application of knowledge-based N management practices is imperative to stimulate ecosystem N retention and minimize the risk of N loss globally.
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Data availability
The data supporting the findings of this study are available on Figshare (https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.22729133). Source data are provided with this paper.
Code availability
The R (v.4.2.3) codes used to generate the results and figures reported in this study are available on Figshare (https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.22729133).
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Acknowledgements
We thank all the researchers whose data were used in this global synthesis. We also acknowledge the University of Berkeley, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, the International Rice Research Institute, R. Hijmans, N. Garcia, J. Kapoor, A. Rala, A. Maunahan and J. Wieczorek for the world base map data. Financial support for this work was provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos. 42150410380 (A.S.E.), 42122055 (Y.C.), 41977081 (Y.C.), 41977032 (Z.C.) and 42067008 (L.M.)), and the 111 Program of China (grant no. D19002 (Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China)).
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A.S.E. and Y.C. designed the study. A.S.E., J.W. and L.M. gathered the data and performed the analysis. A.S.E. and Y.C. took the lead in writing the paper. All authors contributed to discussing the results and writing and editing the paper. A.S.E., J.W. and L.M. contributed equally to this work.
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Extended data
Extended Data Fig. 1 The weighted effect sizes for soil biogeochemical processes in response to knowledge-based N management practices.
(a) The abundances of overall bacteria, AOA (ammonia-oxidizing archaea), and AOB (ammonia-oxidizing bacteria). (b) NH4+ (extractable ammonium), NO3¯ (extractable nitrate), and [H+] (soil hydrogen concentration). The values outside and inside the parentheses at the right side of the confidence intervals represent, respectively, the number of observations and the number of studies. Errors represent 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of weighted means of response ratios. The effect of fertilizers addition is significant if the CI of effect size does not cover zero. The dashed lines indicate the no-fertilization effect. N, synthetic N; NPK, synthetic N in combination with synthetic P and K; O, organic N-only fertilization (for example, manure and/or compost); ONPK, organic fertilizers in combination with NPK; SNPK, straw in combination with NPK; NI, nitrification inhibitors. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.
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Supplementary Discussion, Figs. 1–151, Tables 1–29, PRISMA checklist and list of publications used in this synthesis.
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An Excel sheet containing all the data included in the paper.
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Elrys, A.S., Wang, J., Meng, L. et al. Integrative knowledge-based nitrogen management practices can provide positive effects on ecosystem nitrogen retention. Nat Food 4, 1075–1089 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-023-00888-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-023-00888-6
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