Information on the responsiveness of winter barley to nitrogen (N) is scarce. Based on a long-term field trial (1978–2015) with different winter barley varieties in northern Germany combined with 64 N fertilizer treatments differing in amount (0–360 kg N ha⁻¹) and distribution, the effects of N fertilizer amount and variety on the grain yield and its components, grain protein concentration (GPC), N use efficiency (NUE), and apparent fertilizer N recovery (AFR) were determined. In addition, quadratic N response curves and linear trends over the experimental period (parameters derived from annual N response curves) were estimated. N fertilization increased grain yield in all varieties, mainly due to a larger number of grains m⁻² rather than to an improved thousand grain weight (TGW). The newer varieties released since the late 1990s outyielded the older ones, especially at higher N supply, revealing a clear breeding progress, which in turn resulted in an improved NUE and AFR. Only if exceeding 190 kg N ha⁻¹ AFR started to decrease. During the trial, GPC in the unfertilized control significantly decreased, while the yield slightly, but non-significantly increased. In contrast, at economic optimum N supply, a significant increase in grain yield and number of grains m⁻² occurred while TGW and GPC remained stable over time. From the practical view of barley growing in humid climates, our results suggest to provide sufficient grains per area (sinks) in order to tap the full yield potential, especially against the background of climate change with its predicted temperature increase in spring and summer impairing grain filling.

关于冬大麦对氮 (N) 反应性的信息很少。基于德国北部不同冬大麦品种的长期田间试验（1978-2015 年），结合 64 种不同施肥量（0-360 kg N ha ^-1）和分布的氮肥处理，氮肥用量和分布的影响测定了籽粒产量及其成分、籽粒蛋白质浓度（GPC）、氮利用效率（NUE）和表观肥料氮回收率（AFR）的变化。此外，估计了实验期间的二次氮响应曲线和线性趋势（来自年度氮响应曲线的参数）。N施肥提高了所有品种的产量，主要是由于大量的籽粒m ^-2而不是提高千粒重 (TGW)。自 1990 年代后期发布的新品种的产量超过了旧品种，尤其是在氮供应较高的情况下，显示出明显的育种进展，进而导致 NUE 和 AFR 得到改善。只有当超过 190 kg N ha ^-1 AFR 开始下降时。试验期间，未施肥对照的GPC明显下降，而产量略有增加，但不显着增加。相比之下，在经济最优 N 供应情况下，粮食产量和粮食数量 m ^{-2显着增加}在 TGW 和 GPC 随时间保持稳定时发生。从大麦在潮湿气候中生长的实际观点来看，我们的结果建议提供足够的单位面积（汇）谷物，以充分挖掘产量潜力，特别是在气候变化的背景下，预计春季和夏季气温升高会损害谷物填充。