Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Biogeochemistry

A plan for efficient use of nitrogen fertilizers

Nature volume 543, pages 322–323 (2017)Cite this article

Subjects

A global analysis finds that nitrogen fertilizers could be used more efficiently if their international distribution across croplands was altered — a measure that would also decrease nitrogen pollution.

Global crop production must double from 2005 levels by 2050 to meet the growing demand for food and biofuels1. Nitrogen is the main nutrient required for crop growth, and therefore needs to be added to boost crop yield — usually in the form of fertilizers and manure, but in some cases through nitrogen fixation by leguminous crops. However, on average, only about 42–47% of the nitrogen added to croplands globally is harvested as crop product2,3. Most of the rest is lost to the environment, where it poses threats to human and ecosystem health on local to global scales. Writing in Global Biogeochemical Cycles, Mueller et al.3 assess regional differences in nitrogen use around the world, and propose that reallocation of nitrogen resources would help to increase global nitrogen-use efficiency.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1

EDWIN REMSBERG/GETTY

Figure 2: The effects of nitrogen-containing fertilizers on crop yields in different regions.

Notes

  1. See all news & views

References

  1. Tilman, D., Balzer, C., Hill, J. & Befort, B. L. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 108, 20260–20264 (2011).

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  2. Zhang, X. et al. Nature 528, 51–59 (2015).

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  3. Mueller, N. D. et al. Glob. Biogeochem. Cycles http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2016GB005515 (2017).

  4. Lambin, E. F. & Meyfroidt, P. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 108, 3465–3472 (2011).

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. d'Amour, C. B., Wenz, L., Kalkuhl, M., Steckel, J. C. & Creutzig, F. Environ. Res. Lett. 11, 035007 (2016).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. Zhang, X., Mauzerall, D. L., Davidson, E. A., Kanter, D. R. & Cai, R. J. Environ. Qual. 44, 312–324 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Van Grinsven, H. J. et al. J. Environ. Qual. 44, 356–367 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Davidson, E. A., Suddick, E. C., Rice, C. W. & Prokopy, L. S. J. Environ. Qual. 44, 305–311 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Bouwman, A. F. et al. Sci. Rep. 7, 40366 (2017).

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Xin Zhang is at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Frostburg, Maryland 21532, USA.,

    Xin Zhang

Authors
  1. Xin Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xin Zhang.

Related links

Related links

Related links in Nature Research

Biodiversity: Recovery as nitrogen declines

https://doi.org/10.1038/nature1195

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zhang, X. A plan for efficient use of nitrogen fertilizers. Nature 543, 322–323 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/543322a

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/543322a

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing