Modelling the nitrogen-driven trade-off between nitrogen utilisation efficiency and water use efficiency of wheat in eastern Australia

The nitrogen-driven trade-off between nitrogen utilisation efficiency (yield per unit nitrogen uptake) and water use efficiency (yield per unit evapotranspiration) is widespread and results from well established, multiple effects of nitrogen availability on the water, carbon and nitrogen economy of crops. Here we used a crop model (APSIM) to simulate the yield, evapotranspiration, soil evaporation and nitrogen uptake of wheat, and analysed yield responses to water, nitrogen and climate using a framework analogous to the rate-duration model of determinate growth. The relationship between modelled grain yield (Y) and evapotranspiration (ET) was fitted to a linear-plateau function to derive three parameters: maximum yield (Y_max), the ET break-point when yield reaches its maximum (ET^#), and the rate of yield response in the linear phase (ΔY/ΔET). Against this framework, we tested the hypothesis that nitrogen deficit reduces maximum yield by reducing both the rate (ΔY/ΔET) and the range of yield response to evapotranspiration, i.e. ET^# − E_s, where E_s is modelled median soil evaporation.