Fertilizer might be stronger than we thought.
Fertilizer might be stronger than we thought. A new international study featuring faculty at Binghamton University found that fertilizer can help plants survive short-term periods of extreme drought, findings which could have implications for agriculture and food systems in a world facing climate stressors.
“Resources such as nutrients and water have been fundamentally altered by humans on a global scale, and this can disrupt how plants grow,” said Amber Churchill, an assistant professor of ecosystem science and co-author on the study. “Extreme changes in these resources are therefore predicted to have an even larger potential impact, with implications for a range of economic sectors. This is especially true for global grasslands, where resource availability for water and nutrients directly supports livestock and pastoralism on all inhabited continents.”
To address this issue, the researchers assessed how grasslands respond to extreme drought and increased nutrient availability through field experiments at 26 sites across 9 countries.
Read More: Binghamton University
Cedar Creek Long Term Ecological Research Site was one of 26 sites studied as part of a global study examining the effect of drought and nutrient addition on grasslands. (Photo Credit: Sydney Hedberg)
