Xinyou Yin1. 1. Centre for Crop Systems Analysis, Department of Plant Sciences, Wageningen University, PO Box 430, 6700 AK Wageningen, The Netherlands. Xinyou.yin@wur.nl
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Process-based ecophysiological crop models are pivotal in assessing responses of crop productivity and designing strategies of adaptation to climate change. Most existing crop models generally over-estimate the effect of elevated atmospheric [CO2], despite decades of experimental research on crop growth response to [CO2]. ANALYSIS: A review of the literature indicates that the quantitative relationships for a number of traits, once expressed as a function of internal plant nitrogen status, are altered little by the elevated [CO2]. A model incorporating these nitrogen-based functional relationships and mechanisms simulated photosynthetic acclimation to elevated [CO2], thereby reducing the chance of over-estimating crop response to [CO2]. Robust crop models to have small parameterization requirements and yet generate phenotypic plasticity under changing environmental conditions need to capture the carbon-nitrogen interactions during crop growth. CONCLUSIONS: The performance of the improved models depends little on the type of the experimental facilities used to obtain data for parameterization, and allows accurate projections of the impact of elevated [CO2] and other climatic variables on crop productivity.
BACKGROUND: Process-based ecophysiological crop models are pivotal in assessing responses of crop productivity and designing strategies of adaptation to climate change. Most existing crop models generally over-estimate the effect of elevated atmospheric [CO2], despite decades of experimental research on crop growth response to [CO2]. ANALYSIS: A review of the literature indicates that the quantitative relationships for a number of traits, once expressed as a function of internal plant nitrogen status, are altered little by the elevated [CO2]. A model incorporating these nitrogen-based functional relationships and mechanisms simulated photosynthetic acclimation to elevated [CO2], thereby reducing the chance of over-estimating crop response to [CO2]. Robust crop models to have small parameterization requirements and yet generate phenotypic plasticity under changing environmental conditions need to capture the carbon-nitrogen interactions during crop growth. CONCLUSIONS: The performance of the improved models depends little on the type of the experimental facilities used to obtain data for parameterization, and allows accurate projections of the impact of elevated [CO2] and other climatic variables on crop productivity.
Entities:
Keywords:
Acclimation to elevated CO2; climate change; crop models; impact assessment; model improvement; nitrogen
Authors: Xinyou Yin; Paul C Struik; Pascual Romero; Jeremy Harbinson; Jochem B Evers; Peter E L VAN DER Putten; Jan Vos Journal: Plant Cell Environ Date: 2009-01-14 Impact factor: 7.228