Nutrient Concentration Declines but Nutrient Yield Increases Under Elevated CO2 Concentration in Soybean: Disentangling the relative effects of Dilution, Transpiration, and Uptake Activity

Abstract

Rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations consistently reduce mineral concentrations in C crops, yet the mechanisms driving this decline - dilution, reduced transpiration-driven mass flow, and altered root nutrient acquisition capacity - have rarely been tested simultaneously under field conditions. Here, we grew two soybean (Glycine max Merr.) varieties with contrasting yield responses to elevated [CO2] (Loda and HS93-4118) at the Soybean Free Air CO2 Enrichment (SoyFACE) facility and quantified the independent contributions of dilution, transpiration, and root uptake to observed changes in tissue mineral concentration and nutrient yield. Elevated [CO2] increased grain yield by 21% and 6% in Loda and HS, respectively, and reduced transpiration by 13-14% across both varieties. A decomposition analysis revealed that while dilution and reduced transpiration each exerted negative effects on tissue nutrient concentrations, with their combined effect representing a 31-40% potential reduction in whole-plant concentration, active root uptake responses were positive for nearly all nutrients, largely offsetting these losses and resulting in observed concentration declines substantially smaller than either mechanism alone would predict. Consequently, whole-plant nutrient yield increased under elevated CO2 for all elements measured, and grain nutrient yield increased for most. The relationship between seasonal transpiration and nutrient yield was steeper under elevated CO2 for most macronutrients, indicating that plants acquired more nutrients per unit water transpired, not less, under elevated CO2. These results demonstrate that root uptake is the dominant compensatory response to elevated [CO2] driven dilution and reduced mass flow in soybean, that nutrient yield is maintained or increased for most elements under elevated [CO2], and that Fe represents a physiologically and nutritionally significant vulnerability in future CO2 environments.