Nitrogen application is required to realize wheat yield stimulation by elevated CO 2 but will not remove the CO 2 -induced reduction in grain protein concentration.

Elevated CO2 (eCO2 ) generally promotes increased grain yield and decreased grain protein concentration, but the extent to which these effects depend on the magnitude of fertilization remains unclear. We collected data on the eCO2 responses of grain yield, grain protein concentration and grain protein yield and their relationships with nitrogen (N) application rates across experimental data covering 11 field grown wheat (Triticum aestivum) cultivars studied in eight countries on four continents. The eCO2 -induced stimulation of grain yield increased with N application rates up to ~200 kg ha-1 . At higher N application, stimulation of grain yield by eCO2 stagnated or even declined. This was valid both when the yield stimulation was expressed as the total effect and using per ppm CO2 scaling. Grain protein concentration was decreased by on average 7% under eCO2 and the magnitude of this effect did not depend on N application rate. The net effect of responses on grain yield and protein concentration was that eCO2 typically increased and decreased grain protein yield at N application rates below and above ~100 kg ha-1 , respectively. We conclude that a negative effect on wheat grain protein concentration seems inevitable under eCO2 and that substantial N application rates may be required to sustain wheat protein yields in a world with rising CO2 . This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.