Field measurements of bare soil evaporation and crop transpiration, and transpiration efficiency, for rainfed grain crops in Australia - A review

Available online 30 April 2018Australian agriculture is dominated by rainfed cropping in environments where evaporative demand greatly exceeds annual rainfall. In this paper we review field measurements of crop transpiration and bare soil evaporation under rainfed grain crops, and crop transpiration efficiencies. Crop transpiration is typically calculated from the difference between evapotranspiration and bare soil evaporation, however, while the former is readily measured, the latter is difficult to obtain. For wheat we found only 19 studies which measured the critical water balance parameters of bare soil evaporation and crop transpiration in Australia, and very many fewer for other crops. From the studies reported for wheat, on average 38% of evapotranspiration was lost to direct soil evaporation. Data for other crops are insufficient to ascertain whether they are similar or different to wheat in terms of the relative contributions of Es and T to the water balance. Although it may have occurred in practice, we can find no field measurements of the crop water balance to demonstrate an increase in crop transpiration at the expense of bare soil evaporation as a function of improvements in agronomic practices in recent decades. Although it is thought that crop transpiration efficiencies are primarily a function of vapour pressure deficit, transpiration efficiencies reported in the literature vary considerably within crops, even after accounting for vapour pressure deficit. We conclude that more reliable estimates of crop transpiration efficiency would be highly valuable for calculating seasonal transpiration of field grown crops from shoot biomass measurement, and provide an fruitful avenue for exploring water use efficiency of grain crops.Murray Unkovich, Jeff Baldock, Ryan Farquharso

Insufficient nitrogen supply from symbiotic fixation reduces seasonal crop growth and nitrogen mobilization to seed in highly productive soybean crops

Nitrogen (N) supply can limit the yields of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] in highly productive environments. To explore the physiological mechanisms underlying this limitation, seasonal changes in N dynamics, aboveground dry matter (ADM) accumulation, leaf area index (LAI) and fraction of absorbed radiation (fAPAR) were compared in crops relying only on biological N2 fixation and available soil N (zero-N treatment) versus crops receiving N fertilizer (full-N treatment). Experiments were conducted in seven high-yield environments without water limitation, where crops received optimal management. In the zero-N treatment, biological N2 fixation was not sufficient to meet the N demand of the growing crop from early in the season up to beginning of seed filling. As a result, crop LAI, growth, N accumulation, radiation-use efficiency and fAPAR were consistently higher in the full-N than in the zero-N treatment, leading to improved seed set and yield. Similarly, plants in the full-N treatment had heavier seeds with higher N concentration because of greater N mobilization from vegetative organs to seeds. Future yield gains in high-yield soybean production systems will require an increase in biological N2 fixation, greater supply of N from soil or fertilizer, or alleviation of the trade-off between these two sources of N in order to meet the plant demand.Fil: Cafaro la Menza, Nicolás. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Nebraska - Lincoln; Estados UnidosFil: Monzon, Juan Pablo. Universidad de Nebraska - Lincoln; Estados Unidos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata; ArgentinaFil: Lindquist, John L.. Universidad de Nebraska - Lincoln; Estados UnidosFil: Arkebauer, Timothy J.. Universidad de Nebraska - Lincoln; Estados UnidosFil: Knops, Johannes M. H.. Universidad de Nebraska - Lincoln; Estados UnidosFil: Unkovich, Murray. University of Adelaide; AustraliaFil: Specht, James E.. Universidad de Nebraska - Lincoln; Estados UnidosFil: Grassini, Patricio. Universidad de Nebraska - Lincoln; Estados Unido

Influence of root and leaf traits on the uptake of nutrients in cover crops

Aims: Cover crops play an important role in soil fertility as they can accumulate large amounts of nutrients. This study aimed at understanding the nutrient uptake capacity of a wide range of cover crops and at assessing the relevance of acquisition strategies. Methods: A field experiment was conducted to characterize 20 species in terms of leaf and root traits. Plant traits were related to nutrient concentration and shoot biomass production with a redundancy analysis. Acquisition strategies were identified using a cluster analysis. Results: Root systems varied greatly among cover crop species. Five nutrient acquisition strategies were delineated. Significant amounts of nutrients (about 120 kg ha−1 of nitrogen, 30 kg ha−1 of phosphorus and 190 kg ha−1 of potassium) were accumulated by the species in a short period. Nutrient acquisition strategies related to high accumulations of nutrients consisted in either high shoot biomass and root mass and dense tissues, or high nutrient concentrations and root length densities. Species with high root length densities showed lower C/N ratios. Conclusions: The same amounts of nutrients were accumulated by groups with different acquisition strategies. However, their nutrient concentrations offer different perspectives in terms of nutrient release for the subsequent crop and nutrient cycling improvement

Measurement of asymbiotic N(2) fixation in Australian agriculture

A wide range of bacteria capable of nitrogen fixation (free-living and associative) can be found in all agricultural soils across Australia, however measurement of their effectiveness in N2 fixation has proved to be problematic because rates are low compared to symbiotic systems and quantitative methodologies barely adequate. It is generally believed that associative N2 fixation rates may be greater than free-living N2 fixation rates in ecosystems where grasses (including cereals) dominate, although this has not been unequivocally proven. Conditions promoting asymbiotic N2 fixation are reduced availability of oxygen, high temperature and soil water, and large amounts of microbially available C in the soil. The most direct measure of N2 fixation, incorporation of 15N2, has rarely been used in undisturbed systems, and we can find no examples of its field application in Australia. Nitrogen balance calculations, based on long-term changes in total soil N of systems and crop N removal, have been used to infer asymbiotic N2 fixation, but do not measure it directly. Such N balance studies can thus only give an indication of potential asymbiotic N2 fixation over long periods of time, but cannot confirm it. There are no robust N balances published for Australian ecosystems. The acetylene reduction assay for nitrogenase activity has been used in Australia to study responses of both free-living and associative N2 fixation systems to regulating factors. These studies have highlighted the importance of C supply, high soil water content and temperature in increasing asymbiotic N2 fixation in soils. However significant methodological limitations do not allow field scale quantification using this assay. On balance we would concur with the authors of several earlier global reviews of this topic and conclude that (in Australia) contributions of nitrogen to crop growth from asymbiotic N2 fixation are likely to be <10 kg N ha-1 y-1 and generally not of agronomic significance under low rainfall conditions. In tropical environments where higher rainfall and temperatures coincide, rates are likely to be greater if soil mineral N is low and carbon substrates are available for N2 fixing microorganisms. If asymbiotic N2 fixation is to be encouraged or profitably managed, there is a need for more reliable field measurement and a combination of methodologies including 15N might provide more definitive quantitative indications.Murray Unkovich, Jeff Baldoc

Variability in Harvest Index of Grain Crops and Potential Significance for Carbon Accounting: Examples from Australian Agriculture

For grain crops, harvest index (HI) is the ratio of harvested grain to total shoot dry matter, and this can be used as a measure of reproductive efficiency. The index can also be used to estimate crop carbon (C) balances by applying it to grain yield statistics to determine total shoot dry matter and then calculating crop residues as the difference between shoot C and grain C. Such an approach is widely used in C-accounting systems. Such a C-accounting practice is sensitive to changes in HI. In Australia, measured variations in HI are large enough to alter C balance calculations for some crops. Much of this variation results from the diverse range of climates and soils, which are a feature of the Australian cereal cropping region. Factors that influence crop HI include the energy and protein content of seeds, long-term breeding achievements, and extreme (either hot or cold) temperatures during crop reproductive development. Crop husbandry can also influence HI, especially delayed sowing, which shortens the length of the vegetative phase and increases HI. For wheat, and perhaps some other C3 cereals, excess nitrogen can enhance the allocation of photosynthate to structural carbon, which cannot be mobilized to grain later, resulting in a decrease in HI. Evidence for the balance between pre and postanthesis water use of field-grown crops having a significant influence on crop HI is equivocal. A dataset containing more than 3000 estimates of HI in Australia has been assembled and used to summarize observed HI variations for each of the principal field crops grown in Australia. There remains a need for more reliable field HI data to be used in C-accounting systems and to aid the development of models to simulate likely regional and seasonal differences in HI for C-accounting purposes.Murray Unkovich, Jeff Baldock and Matthew Forbe

Prospects and problems of simple linear models for estimating symbiotic N2 fixation by crop and pasture legumes

Symbiotic dinitrogen (N2) fixation of crop and pasture legumes is a critical component of agricultural systems, but its measurement is expensive and labour intensive. Simple models which can provide approximations based on crop or pasture dry matter production would be useful for agrononomists and those interested in regional nitrogen (N) cycle fluxes. We investigate meta analysis of published data on legume shoot dry matter production, shoot %N and legume %N fixed (%Ndfa) and look for relationships among these, as a possible way of providing useful approximations of N2 fixation. We restricted our analysis to Australian studies where we have ready access to the primary data and where cultivars, management and climate are more constrained compared to a universal dataset. Regression analysis between shoot dry matter and amounts of shoot N2 fixed were strong for all crop and pasture legumes with significant differences in slope and intercept values being obtained between pastures and crops, and between chickpea (Cicer arietinium) and all other crop and pasture legumes. Annual pasture legumes showed the strongest linear relationship between N2 fixation and shoot dry matter and had the greatest slope (20.2–24.3 kg N2 fixed/t), compared to 18.7 kg N2 fixed/t for the perennial pasture legume lucerne (alfalfa, Medicago sativa), and between 10.7 to 23.0 kg N2/t for crop legumes, depending upon species. It was recognised that the use of such shoot-based relationships would underestimate the total amounts of N2 fixed since the contributions of fixed N present in, or derived from, roots and nodules are not included. Furthermore there needs to be careful consideration of the validity of an intercept term, which might reflect suppression of N2 fixation at low dry matter and high soil mineral N availability, or possibly the use of non-linear regression. For chickpea crops grown in north-eastern Australia, multiple regression indicated that N2 fixation was much more closely correlated with %Ndfa than dry matter production. Evidence presented also indicated that %Ndfa of other crops and lucerne in this region may similarly be influenced by soil mineral N. The regression approach presented provides a statistical basis to approximate N2 fixation in the first instance. This work highlights some of the dangers of fitting single regressions to aggregated datasets and using these to approximate symbiotic N2 fixation. The analysis indicates that where pasture legumes are grown in mixtures with non-legumes, and driven to high dependence on N2 fixation, simple linear regressions may be quite useful, provided that possible differences between species are investigated as the slopes of the regressions between these can be quite different. For crop legumes, where low dependence on N2 fixation can occur at higher mineral N availability, there is a need to carefully consider the intercept term, obtain estimates of mineral N availability, and/or resort to non-linear models. The gross generalisations presented in scatter plots cannot be reliably applied any more specifically, even within the datasets from which they were generated, and in some cases even within legume species between regions. They cannot substitute for direct measurement where any certainty is required under a particular set of defined conditions.M. J. Unkovich, J. Baldock and M. B. People