Water availability moderates N2 fixation benefit from elevated [CO2]: A 2-year free-air CO2 enrichment study on lentil (Lens culinaris MEDIK.) in a water limited agroecosystem

Increased biomass and yield of plants grown under elevated [CO2] often corresponds to decreased grain N concentration ([N]), diminishing nutritional quality of crops. Legumes through their symbiotic N-2 fixation may be better able to maintain biomass [N] and grain [N] under elevated [CO2], provided N-2 fixation is stimulated by elevated [CO2] in line with growth and yield. In Mediterranean-type agroecosystems, N-2 fixation may be impaired by drought, and it is unclear whether elevated [CO2] stimulation of N-2 fixation can overcome this impact in dry years. To address this question, we grew lentil under two [CO2] (ambient similar to 400 ppm and elevated similar to 550 ppm) levels in a free-air CO2 enrichment facility over two growing seasons sharply contrasting in rainfall. Elevated [CO2] stimulated N-2 fixation through greater nodule number (+27%), mass (+18%), and specific fixation activity (+17%), and this stimulation was greater in the high than in the low rainfall/dry season. Elevated [CO2] depressed grain [N] (-4%) in the dry season. In contrast, grain [N] increased (+3%) in the high rainfall season under elevated [CO2], as a consequence of greater post-flowering N-2 fixation. Our results suggest that the benefit for N-2 fixation from elevated [CO2] is high as long as there is enough soil water to continue N-2 fixation during grain filling.