Comparison of climate change impacts on the growth of C3 and C4 crops in China

Global agricultural production has been significantly affected by climate change. As a large but also weak agricultural country, China must take corresponding adaptation measures in regard to climate change. As C3 and C4 crops have different carbon sequestration pathways, the responses of their growth to climate change are different. This study comprehensively compared the impacts of climate change on the growth of C3 and C4 crops in China by considering several key variables, such as solar radiation, temperature, precipitation, CO2 concentration, and agro–climatic constraints. The WOFOST (WOrld FOod STudies) model was used to quantitatively simulate and analyze the impacts of these variables on crop yield under four different scenarios. The results show that 1) during the growth period, solar radiation had the most significant change, followed by temperature difference between day and night, daily minimum temperature, daily maximum temperature, and precipitation; 2) the growth indicators of both C3 and C4 crops were more strongly correlated with solar radiation and temperature; and 3) under the four scenarios, changes in temperature and solar radiation had negative effects on both C3 and C4 crops in most regions, and changes in CO2 concentration had greater impacts on crop yields than other factors. This study revealed the temporal and spatial patterns of crop growth indicators under different climate change scenarios in the past 30 years, which provides a scientific basis for exploring how to adapt to climate change and provide higher levels of crop productivity in China.