Observational evidence for groundwater influence on crop yields in the United States.

ABSTRACT: As climate change shifts crop exposure to dry and wet extremes, a better understanding of factors governing crop response is needed. Recent studies identified shallow groundwater-groundwater within or near the crop rooting zone-as influential, yet existing evidence is largely based on theoretical crop model simulations, indirect or static groundwater data, or small-scale field studies. Here, we use observational satellite yield data and dynamic water table simulations from 1999 to 2018 to provide field-scale evidence for shallow groundwater effects on maize yields across the United States Corn Belt. We identify three lines of evidence supporting groundwater influence: 1) crop model simulations better match observed yields after improvements in groundwater representation; 2) machine learnin

SUBMITTER: Deines JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11388334 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature