Water availability moderates N 2 fixation benefit from elevated [CO 2 ]: A 2‐year free‐air CO 2 enrichment study on lentil ( Lens culinaris MEDIK.) in a water limited agroecosystem

Increased biomass and yield of plants grown under elevated [CO 2 ] often corresponds to decreased grain N concentration ([N]), diminishing nutritional quality of crops. Legumes through their symbiotic N 2 fixation may be better able to maintain biomass [N] and grain [N] under elevated [CO 2 ], provided N 2 fixation is stimulated by elevated [CO 2 ] in line with growth and yield. In Mediterranean‐type agroecosystems, N 2 fixation may be impaired by drought, and it is unclear whether elevated [CO 2 ] stimulation of N 2 fixation can overcome this impact in dry years. To address this question, we grew lentil under two [CO 2 ] (ambient ~400 ppm and elevated ~550 ppm) levels in a free‐air CO 2 enrichment facility over two growing seasons sharply contrasting in rainfall. Elevated [CO 2 ] stimulated N 2 fixation through greater nodule number (+27%), mass (+18%), and specific fixation activity (+17%), and this stimulation was greater in the high than in the low rainfall/dry season. Elevated [CO 2 ] depressed grain [N] (−4%) in the dry season. In contrast, grain [N] increased (+3%) in the high rainfall season under elevated [CO 2 ], as a consequence of greater post‐flowering N 2 fixation. Our results suggest that the benefit for N 2 fixation from elevated [CO 2 ] is high as long as there is enough soil water to continue N 2 fixation during grain filling.