CO2 Fertilization of Crops Under Changing Climate: Physiological Responses and Interactions with Warming and Drought
A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Agricultural Biosystem and Biological Engineering".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2027 | Viewed by 1
Editors
2. Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Richmond, NSW 2753, Australia
Interests: crop modelling; limate change impact assessment; crop yield simulation; process-based modelling; climate change; climate uncertainty analysis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations have increased substantially since the pre-industrial era and are projected to continue rising throughout this century. Elevated CO2 can enhance crop photosynthesis, biomass production and water-use efficiency, potentially benefiting crop productivity under future climates. However, the magnitude and persistence of this CO2 fertilisation effect remain uncertain and vary among crop species, cultivars and developmental stages.
Importantly, crop responses to elevated CO2 do not occur in isolation. Warming, heat extremes and drought can modify or offset the benefits of CO2 fertilisation by accelerating crop development, disrupting reproductive processes and increasing respiratory and hydraulic stress. Although elevated CO2 may partly alleviate drought by reducing stomatal conductance and water loss, these benefits may diminish under severe water limitation, high temperatures or nutrient constraints. Rising CO2 may also affect crop quality by altering grain protein and nutrient concentrations.
This Special Issue invites original research and review articles examining the physiological mechanisms underlying crop responses to elevated CO2, particularly its interactions with warming and drought under changing climate. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Crop photosynthesis, respiration and acclimation under elevated CO2;
- Stomatal regulation, transpiration and water-use efficiency;
- Interactive effects of elevated CO2, warming, heat extremes and drought;
- Effects on crop phenology, reproductive development and biomass allocation;
- Responses of crop yield, grain quality and nutritional composition;
- Nutrient and source–sink constraints on CO2 fertilisation;
- Evidence from field experiments, FACE studies and controlled environments;
- Representation of CO2–temperature–water interactions in crop models.
Through this Special Issue, we aim to improve understanding of when and where CO2 fertilisation can enhance crop productivity and resilience—and when its benefits may be constrained under a warmer and drier future climate.
Dr. Bin Wang
Dr. Chao Chen
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- elevated CO2
- CO2 fertilisation
- crop physiology
- climate warming
- drought stress
- photosynthesis
- stomatal conductance
- water-use efficiency
- crop yield
- grain quality
- crop modelling
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