Yields of maize (corn) have increased in the central United States since 1995, but so has the crop's sensitivity to drought.
David Lobell from Stanford University in California and his colleagues studied yields of US maize (pictured) and daily weather data for between 1995 and 2012, focusing on a measure of atmospheric dryness called vapour-pressure deficit. The authors found that yields have been increasing overall, but in years of high vapour-pressure deficits, maize grew more slowly. The team says that the practice of packing plants close together could be boosting this sensitivity.
Climate change could have larger negative effects on US maize crops than previously thought, because vapour-pressure deficit in the region is predicted to rise as the climate warms, the authors say.
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Maize vulnerable to drought. Nature 509, 137 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/509137d
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/509137d
