Journal Article

Changes in micronutrient availability and plant uptake under simulated climate change in winter wheat field

Liu, Xiaoyu, Zhang, Xuhui, Li, Lianqing, Pan, Genxing, Zheng, Jufeng, Zheng, Jinwei, Wang, Jianqing, Shen, Mingxing, Cheng, Kun

2016

Overview

Purpose Although micronutrients are essential to higher plants, it remains unclear whether the projected future climate change would affect their availability to plants. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) enrichment and warming on soil micronutrient availability and plant uptake. Materials and methods This study was conducted in an open field experiment with CO 2 enrichment and plant canopy warming. Four treatments were included: (1) free-air CO 2 enrichment up to 500 ppm (CE); (2) canopy warming by plus 2 °C (WA); (3) CO 2 enrichment combined with canopy warming (CW), and (4) ambient condition as control. Plant and soil samples were collected, respectively, at the jointing, heading, and ripening stage over the whole wheat growing season in 2014. The micronutrient concentrations both in soil and plant were both analyzed, and the accumulated uptake by wheat harvest was assessed. Results and discussion Both CO 2 enrichment and warming increased the availability of most soil micronutrients. The availability of Fe, Mn, Cu, and Zn under CO 2 enrichment increased by 47.7, 22.5, 59.8, and 114.1 %, respectively. Warming increased the availability of Fe, Cu, and Zn by 60.4, 23.8, and 15.3 %, respectively. The plant growth induced changes in soil pH and in soil microbial biomass carbon (MBC) accounted to the changes in soil micronutrient availability. The enrichment of CO 2 and warming had significant effects on micronutrient uptake by wheat. The enrichment of CO 2 decreased the concentration of Fe by 9.3 %, while it increased the concentrations of Mn and Zn by 18.9 and 8.1 % in plant shoot, respectively. Warming increased the concentration of Fe and Cu by 24.3 and 7.6 % in plant shoot, respectively. The increase in soil micronutrient availability did not always lead to the increase in micronutrient uptake. The element types and crop growth stage affected the uptake of micronutrients by wheat under CO 2 enrichment and warming. Additionally, CO 2 enrichment decreased the translocation of Fe and Zn by 25.3 and 10.0 %, respectively, while warming increased the translocation of Fe, Mn, Cu, and Zn across stages. Conclusions Our results demonstrated that CO 2 enrichment and warming would improve availability of some micronutrients and their uptake by wheat. However, it is still unclear whether a net removal of micronutrient through crop straw harvest would occur under CO 2 enrichment and warming.

• Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg,Springer Nature B.V
• Subject: Canopies / canopy / carbon / Carbon dioxide / Climate change / copper / Earth and Environmental Science / Enrichment / Environment / Environmental Physics / field experimentation / free air carbon dioxide enrichment / Growing season / heading / iron / manganese / microbial biomass / Micronutrients / Nutrient availability / Plant growth / ripening / Sec 1 • Soil Organic Matter Dynamics and Nutrient Cycling • Research Article / Soil fertility / soil heating / soil microorganisms / Soil pH / soil sampling / Soil Science & Conservation / Soils / straw / Translocation / Triticum aestivum / Wheat / Winter wheat / Zinc