Rising carbon saps wheat quality

A field experiment shows that wheat exposed to higher carbon dioxide levels converts less of the nitrogen it absorbs into protein. This could result in decreased food quality this century.

Arnold Bloom at the University of California, Davis, and his colleagues compared nitrate concentrations and the relative amounts of heavy and light nitrogen isotopes in leaves from wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) grown under elevated and normal CO₂ conditions. They found that increased CO₂ slows down the assimilation of nitrate into proteins in leaves.

The predicted rise in CO₂ over the next few decades could decrease protein levels in crop plants by about 3% without sophisticated new approaches to nitrogen fertilization, the authors say.

Nature Clim. Change http://doi.org/r7j (2014)