Elevated CO2 and warming intensify plant reliance on soil nitrogen reserves despite intensive fertilization

Abstract

Abstract Understanding how ecosystems sustain plant nitrogen (N) supply under climate change is critical, yet whether increasing plant N demand is met by external inputs or mobilization of soil N reserves remains unresolved. Here we show that climate change increases plant reliance on soil N reserves despite intensive fertilization. Using a two-year 15 N-tracing experiment combining elevated CO 2 , warming, and drought in a montane grassland, we found that plants obtained 82–88% of their N from soil and acquired 4.6–7.3 times more N from soil than from fertilizer despite high N inputs. Elevated CO 2 and warming increased plant uptake of soil-derived N but not fertilizer N. Consequently, plant N export exceeded fertilizer inputs, causing ecosystem N deficits and depletion of soil N stocks, with the strongest soil N mining under combined elevated CO 2 and warming. Our findings reveal that climate change accelerates biological mining of soil N reserves, potentially constraining the long-term sustainability of intensively managed agroecosystems.