Premium
Integrative Crop‐Soil‐Management Modeling to Assess Global Phosphorus Losses from Major Crop Cultivations
Author(s) -
Liu Wenfeng,
Yang Hong,
Ciais Philippe,
Stamm Christian,
Zhao Xu,
Williams Jimmy R.,
Abbaspour Karim C.,
Schulin Rainer
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
global biogeochemical cycles
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.512
H-Index - 187
eISSN - 1944-9224
pISSN - 0886-6236
DOI - 10.1029/2017gb005849
Subject(s) - environmental science , surface runoff , crop , fertilizer , phosphorus , erosion , agronomy , ecology , chemistry , biology , paleontology , organic chemistry
Fertilization, crop uptake followed by plant harvest, runoff and erosion, and transformations of phosphorus (P) in soil are the major factors influencing the P balance of croplands. It is important to integrate plant‐soil‐management interactions into consistent modeling systems to determine the effect of P fertilization conditions on yields and to quantify P losses. Previous assessment of P losses on large scales did not consider the interactions among these factors. Here we applied a grid‐based crop model to estimate global P losses from three most produced crops: maize, rice, and wheat. The model was forced by detailed P input data sets over the period 1998–2002. According to our simulations, global P losses from the three crops reached 1.2 Tg P/year, and about 44% of it was due to soil erosion. The global total P losses were dominated by contributions from a few hot spot regions. Reducing P fertilizer in regions experiencing excessive P uses and hence losses, especially in China and India, could achieve the same yields as today and save about two thirds of global total P inputs, with the cobenefits of declining global total P losses by 41% and downstream water quality improvement. Reducing soil erosion and retaining more crop residues on croplands could further save P inputs and alleviate P losses. This study is of significance to determine the major factors influencing P balance across regions of the world and help policy makers to propose efficient strategies for tackling P‐driven environmental problems.