Agricultural fertilization significantly enhances amplitude of land-atmosphere CO exchange.
Danica L Lombardozzi, William R Wieder, Gretchen Keppel-Aleks, Jiameng Lai, Zhenqi Luo, Ying Sun, Isla R Simpson, David M Lawrence, Gordon B Bonan, Xin Lin, Charles D Koven, Pierre Friedlingstein, Keith Lindsay
Author Information
Danica L Lombardozzi: Ecosystem Science and Sustainability, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA. Danica.Lombardozzi@colostate.edu. ORCID
William R Wieder: Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory, NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, USA. ORCID
Gretchen Keppel-Aleks: Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. ORCID
Jiameng Lai: School of Integrative Plant Science, Soil and Crop Sciences Section, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA. ORCID
Zhenqi Luo: School of Integrative Plant Science, Soil and Crop Sciences Section, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA. ORCID
Ying Sun: School of Integrative Plant Science, Soil and Crop Sciences Section, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA. ORCID
Isla R Simpson: Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory, NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, USA. ORCID
David M Lawrence: Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory, NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, USA. ORCID
Gordon B Bonan: Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory, NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, USA. ORCID
Xin Lin: Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environment, Gif sur Yvette Cedex, France. ORCID
Charles D Koven: Climate and Ecosystem Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA. ORCID
Pierre Friedlingstein: Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QF, UK. ORCID
Keith Lindsay: Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory, NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, USA.
Observations show an increase in the seasonal cycle amplitude of CO in northern latitudes over the past half century. Although multiple drivers contribute, observations and inversion models cannot quantitatively account for the factors contributing to the increased CO amplitude and older versions of Earth System Models (ESMs) do not simulate it. Here we show that several current generation ESMs are closer to the observed CO amplitude and highlight that in the Community Earth System Model (CESM) agricultural nitrogen (N) fertilization increases CO amplitude by 1-3 ppm throughout the Northern Hemisphere and up to 9 ppm in agricultural hotspots. While agricultural N fertilization is the largest contributor to the enhanced amplitude (45%) in Northern Hemisphere land-atmosphere carbon fluxes in CESM, higher CO concentrations and warmer temperatures also contribute, though to a lesser extent (40% and 18% respectively). Our results emphasize the fundamental role of agricultural management in Northern Hemisphere carbon cycle feedbacks and illustrate that agricultural N fertilization should be considered in future carbon cycle simulations.
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