Accounting for differences between crops and regions reduces estimates of nitrate leaching from nitrogen-fertilized soils
File version
Version of Record (VoR)
Author(s)
Liu, Yihong
Xia, Longlong
Akiyama, Hiroko
Chen, Xinli
Chen, Ji
Fang, Yunying
Vancov, Tony
Li, Yongfu
Yao, Yuanzhi
Wu, Dianming
Yu, Bing
Chang, Scott X
Cai, Yanjiang
Griffith University Author(s)
Primary Supervisor
Other Supervisors
Editor(s)
Date
Size
File type(s)
Location
Abstract
Nitrate (NO3−) leaching from nitrogen (N) fertilized soils is a significant global concern, affecting both the environment and public health. However, substantial uncertainties and variabilities in NO3− leaching factors (LFs) among regions or crops impede accurate assessments of NO3− leaching. Here we synthesize 2500 field observations worldwide and show that LFs vary by an order of magnitude across regions and crops, primarily driven by hydroclimatic and edaphic conditions rather than N fertilizer management. Global cropland NO3− leaching from synthetic N fertilization, calculated through spatially explicit (15.4, 14.8–16.1 Tg N yr–1) and crop-specific (12.9, 11.0–14.8 Tg N yr–1) LFs, is 41% lower than the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Tier 1 global inventory. Over 47% of this leaching is concentrated in China, India, and the United States, with maize, wheat, rice and vegetables accounting for nearly half of it. Improved regional and crop-specific LFs will provide a benchmark for NO3− leaching abatement by pinpointing potential global hotspots.
Journal Title
Communications Earth & Environment
Conference Title
Book Title
Edition
Volume
6
Issue
Thesis Type
Degree Program
School
Publisher link
Patent number
Funder(s)
Grant identifier(s)
Rights Statement
Rights Statement
© The Author(s) 2025. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
Item Access Status
Note
Access the data
Related item(s)
Subject
Persistent link to this record
Citation
Wang, Y; Liu, Y; Xia, L; Akiyama, H; Chen, X; Chen, J; Fang, Y; Vancov, T; Li, Y; Yao, Y; Wu, D; Yu, B; Chang, SX; Cai, Y, Accounting for differences between crops and regions reduces estimates of nitrate leaching from nitrogen-fertilized soils, Communications Earth & Environment, 2025, 6, pp. 29