Yan et al. (2025) Intensifying impacts of compound drought and heatwave events on water use efficiency in U.S. corn and soybean

Identification

• Journal: Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-10-06
• Authors: Hua Yan, Yongfa You, Wenzhe Jiao, Naiqing Pan
• DOI: 10.1016/j.agrformet.2025.110873

Research Groups

• School of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA
• Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
• Center for Earth System Science and Global Sustainability, Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, USA

Short Summary

This study investigates the spatiotemporal impacts of compound drought and heatwave events on U.S. corn and soybean water use efficiency (WUE) from 1960 to 2018, finding significant reductions in WUE (corn: 14.7%, soybean: 11.3%) and intensifying adverse effects in substantial production areas over time.

Objective

• To examine the spatiotemporal variations in U.S. corn and soybean water use efficiency (WUE) in response to compound drought and heatwave events from 1960 to 2018.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: U.S. corn and soybean production areas.
• Temporal Scale: 1960 to 2018 (59 years). Impacts were generally short-lived (WUE recovered in the following year), but long-term trends of intensification were observed.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Superposed epoch analysis was employed to examine the responses of WUE to extreme events.
• Data sources: Historical data on drought, heatwave, yield, and evapotranspiration for U.S. corn and soybean from 1960 to 2018 (implied observational/reanalysis data).

Main Results

• Compound drought and heatwave events reduced water use efficiency (WUE) by 14.7% in corn and 11.3% in soybean compared to normal conditions.
• These compound events led to greater reductions in yield and evapotranspiration than single drought or heatwave events.
• While the immediate impacts of both single and compound extremes were generally short-lived, with WUE recovering in the subsequent year, long-term trends indicate intensifying adverse impacts.
• Intensified adverse impacts of compound drought and heatwave events were observed in 37.5% of corn and 46.2% of soybean production areas.
• Temperature was consistently identified as the dominant climatic driver of WUE responses under drought, heatwave, and compound extreme conditions.

Contributions

• Provides a comprehensive spatiotemporal analysis of U.S. corn and soybean WUE responses to compound drought and heatwave events, addressing a critical knowledge gap.
• Quantifies the distinct and more severe impacts of compound extremes on WUE, yield, and evapotranspiration compared to single extreme events.
• Identifies temperature as a consistent dominant climatic driver of WUE responses across different extreme event types.
• Emphasizes the urgent need to prioritize compound drought and heatwave events in agricultural impact assessments and adaptation strategies.

Funding

• Not specified in the provided text.

Citation

@article{Yan2025Intensifying,
  author = {Yan, Hua and You, Yongfa and Jiao, Wenzhe and Pan, Naiqing},
  title = {Intensifying impacts of compound drought and heatwave events on water use efficiency in U.S. corn and soybean},
  journal = {Agricultural and Forest Meteorology},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.1016/j.agrformet.2025.110873},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2025.110873}
}