Nutrients use efficiency in legume crops to climatic changes

Abstract

Legumes, with the ability of 88% of the species examined to date to form nodules with rhizobia and fix nitrogen, are second only to the Gramineae in their importance to humans. Legume species are going to play a very important role in relationship to the nutrient use and efficiency in agriculture under climate changes resulting from human activity. Climate change associated with increased human caused CO2 pollution will affect weather patterns, resulting in increased global temperatures and rainfall, more extreme events, and regional changes in annual mean temperatures and precipitation. These changes will impact all inhabitants in the world, including through food production. The effects may be direct, for example via increased photosynthesis or indirect via changes in soil microclimate affecting rates of mineralization of nutrients. In this sense, climate change may have beneficial as well as detrimental consequences for agriculture and crop nutrient use efficiency. Some research indicates that warmer temperatures lengthen growing seasons and increased carbon dioxide in the air results in higher yields. Together these would increase nutrient demand from some crops and potentially may lead to either increased nutrient use efficiency or reduced efficiency for example via inability to supply adequate P resulting in reduced N fixation. While changes, will likely vary significantly by region a warming climate and decreasing soil moisture can also result in production patterns shifting northward and an increasing need for irrigation. These shifts in production system are also likely to lead to changes in nutrient use efficiency by legumes.