Long-term Effects of Free Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE) on Soil Respiration

Emissions of CO₂ from soils make up one of the largest fluxes in the global C cycle, thus small changes in soil respiration may have large impacts on global C cycling. Anthropogenic additions of CO₂ to the atmosphere are expected to alter soil carbon cycling, an important component of the global carbon budget. As part of the Duke Forest Free-Air CO₂ Enrichment (FACE) experiment, we examined how forest growth at elevated (+200 ppmv) atmospheric CO₂ concentration affects soil CO₂ dynamics over 7 years of continuous enrichment. Soil respiration, soil CO₂ concentrations, and the isotopic signature of soil CO₂ were measured monthly throughout the 7 years of treatment. Estimated annual rates of soil CO₂ efflux have been significantly higher in the elevated plots in every year of the study, but over the last 5 years the magnitude of the CO₂ enrichment effect on soil CO₂ efflux has declined. Gas well samples indicate that over 7 years fumigation has led to sustained increases in soil CO₂ concentrations and depletion in the δ¹³C of soil CO₂ at all but the shallowest soil depths.     

冬小麦光合作用对开放式空气CO2 浓度增高(FACE)的非气孔适应

在同样CO2浓度下测定时,开放式空气CO2浓度增高(FACE,580 μmol CO2 /mol)条件下生长的冬小麦叶片的净光合速率、气孔导度和羧化效率都显著低于普通空气(380 μmol CO2 /mol)中生长的对照叶片.与此相一致,FACE叶片的可溶性蛋白、二磷酸核酮糖羧化酶/加氧酶(Rubisco)和Rubisco活化酶含量也都显著低于对照叶片.这些结果表明,在根系生长不受限制的田间条件下,冬小麦叶片的光合作用对高浓度CO2产生了适应现象,其主要原因可能是碳同化的关键酶Rubisco等含量的降低.     

植物对开放式CO2 浓度增高(FACE)的响应与适应研究进展

开放式CO2浓度增高(FACE)系统是近年研究植物对高CO2浓度响应和适应的新手段,它比以往密闭和半密闭系统对实验植物生长环境的干扰少.利用FACE系统进行研究更有助于正确地预测未来大气CO2浓度增高对植物的影响.该文结合作者的研究工作简要评介了FACE系统与以往密闭和半密闭式CO2浓度增高实验系统的不同之处以及近年来利用FACE系统所作的最新研究进展.     

Free Atmospheric CO2 Enrichment (FACE) Increased Labile and Total Carbon in the Mineral Soil of a Short Rotation Poplar Plantation

The global net terrestrial carbon sink was estimated to range between 0.5 and 0.7 Pg C y⁻¹ for the early 1990s. FACE (free atmospheric CO₂ enrichment) studies conducted at the whole-tree and community scale indicate that there is a marked increase of primary production, mainly allocated into below-ground biomass. The enhanced carbon transfer to the root system may result in enhanced rhizodeposition and subsequent transfer to soil C pools. During the first rotation of the POP/EuroFACE experiment in a short-rotation Poplar plantation, total soil C content increased more under ambient CO₂ treatment than under FACE, while under FACE more new C was incorporated than under ambient CO₂. These unexpected and opposite effects may have been caused by a priming effect, where priming effect is defined as the stimulation of SOM decomposition caused by the addition of labile substrates. In order to gain insight into these processes affecting SOM decomposition, we obtained the labile, refractory and stable pools of soil C and N by chemical fractionation (acid hydrolysis) and measured rates of N-mineralization. Results of the first 2 years of the second rotation show a larger increase of total soil C% under FACE than under ambient CO₂. In contrast to the first rotation, total C% is now increasing faster under FACE than under ambient CO₂. Based on these observations we infer that the priming effect ceased during the second rotation. FACE treatment increased the labile C fraction at 0–10 cm depth, which is in agreement with the larger input of plant litter and root exudates under FACE. N-mineralization rates were not affected by FACE. We infer that the system switched from a state where extra labile C and sufficient N-availability (due to the former agricultural use of the soil) caused a priming effect (first rotation), to a state where extra C input is accumulating due to limited N-availability (second rotation). Our results on N-mineralization (second rotation) are in agreement with observations made at three forest FACE sites (Duke Forest, Oak Ridge, and Rhinelander), but our finding of increasing mineral soil C content contrasted with results at the Duke Forest where no significant increase in C content of the mineral soil occurred. However, the FACE induced increase in total C content occurred within the fraction with the shortest turnover time, i.e. the labile fraction. The refractory and stable fractions were not affected. The question remains whether the currently observed larger increase of total soil C and the increase of labile C under FACE will eventually result in long-term C storage in refractory and stable organic matter fractions.     

Response of wheat growth,grain yield and water use to elevated CO2 under a Free‐Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE) experiment and modelling in a semi‐arid environment

The response of wheat crops to elevated CO₂ (eCO₂) was measured and modelled with the Australian Grains Free‐Air CO₂ Enrichment experiment, located at Horsham, Australia. Treatments included CO₂ by water, N and temperature. The location represents a semi‐arid environment with a seasonal VPD of around 0.5 kPa. Over 3 years, the observed mean biomass at anthesis and grain yield ranged from 4200 to 10 200 kg ha^?1 and 1600 to 3900 kg ha^?1, respectively, over various sowing times and irrigation regimes. The mean observed response to daytime eCO₂ (from 365 to 550 μmol mol^?1 CO₂) was relatively consistent for biomass at stem elongation and at anthesis and LAI at anthesis and grain yield with 21%, 23%, 21% and 26%, respectively. Seasonal water use was decreased from 320 to 301 mm (P = 0.10) by eCO₂, increasing water use efficiency for biomass and yield, 36% and 31%, respectively. The performance of six models (APSIM‐Wheat, APSIM‐Nwheat, CAT‐Wheat, CROPSYST, OLEARY‐CONNOR and SALUS) in simulating crop responses to eCO₂ was similar and within or close to the experimental error for accumulated biomass, yield and water use response, despite some variations in early growth and LAI. The primary mechanism of biomass accumulation via radiation use efficiency (RUE) or transpiration efficiency (TE) was not critical to define the overall response to eCO₂. However, under irrigation, the effect of late sowing on response to eCO₂ to biomass accumulation at DC65 was substantial in the observed data (~40%), but the simulated response was smaller, ranging from 17% to 28%. Simulated response from all six models under no water or nitrogen stress showed similar response to eCO₂ under irrigation, but the differences compared to the dryland treatment were small. Further experimental work on the interactive effects of eCO₂, water and temperature is required to resolve these model discrepancies.     

Application of iterative robust model‐based optimal experimental design for the calibration of biocatalytic models

The aim of model calibration is to estimate unique parameter values from available experimental data, here applied to a biocatalytic process. The traditional approach of first gathering data followed by performing a model calibration is inefficient, since the information gathered during experimentation is not actively used to optimize the experimental design. By applying an iterative robust model‐based optimal experimental design, the limited amount of data collected is used to design additional informative experiments. The algorithm is used here to calibrate the initial reaction rate of an ω‐transaminase catalyzed reaction in a more accurate way. The parameter confidence region estimated from the Fisher Information Matrix is compared with the likelihood confidence region, which is not only more accurate but also a computationally more expensive method. As a result, an important deviation between both approaches is found, confirming that linearization methods should be applied with care for nonlinear models. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 33:1278–1293, 2017     

稻-麦轮作系统土壤糖酶活性对开放式CO2浓度增高的响应

研究了稻-麦轮作系统中空气CO2浓度增高(200μmol·mol^-1)对土壤蔗糖酶、木聚糖酶、纤维素酶活性及土壤氮、磷、硫含量变化的影响．结果表明,与对照相比,种植小麦和水稻条件下FACE处理的土壤蔗糖酶活性升高;木聚糖酶活性在小麦的拔节期、抽穗期和成熟期以及水稻的抽穗期和成熟期显著高于对照;纤维素酶活性略降、相关分析表明,土壤碱解态氮含量与蔗糖酶之间呈显著的线性正相关关系．     

FACE实验技术和方法回顾及其在全球变化研究中的应用

化石燃料的燃烧和城市化进程的加快导致大气中二氧化碳(CO₂)和臭氧(O₃)浓度日益升高, 大气气体浓度的变化会对植物个体和陆地生态系统结构与功能产生影响。CO₂浓度升高增加了陆地生态系统碳汇能力, 而O₃导致作物减产和生态系统固碳损失。自由空气中气体浓度增加(FACE)系统是最接近自然的一种模拟大气气体浓度增加对生态系统影响的研究平台, 已广泛应用于各种生态系统, 为理解陆地生态系统生态过程对全球变化的响应及评估未来情景的生态风险提供了重要科学依据。该文从FACE技术特点出发, 介绍了国内外建成的大型CO₂/O₃-FACE系统, 分析了FACE系统的不同布气方式在不同生态系统研究过程中的优点与缺点, 概述了全球FACE运行的现状和取得的主要成果, 并指出了FACE系统存在的主要问题和前沿研究方向。     

稻-麦轮作系统土壤水解酶及氧化还原酶活性对开放式空气CO2浓度增高的响应

研究了FACE条件下(CO2浓度增加200μmol·mol^-1)水稻、小麦不同生育期0～10cm土层土壤脲酶、磷酸酶、芳基硫酸酯酶、脱氢酶活性的变化．结果表明,FACE条件下,土壤脲酶活性在冬小麦生育前期低于对照,在孕穗期高于对照;在水稻生育前期高于对照,在成熟期低于对照．磷酸单酯酶活性在冬小麦生育期高于对照;在水稻分蘖期高于对照,在生育后期(拔节期、抽穗期和成熟期)低于对照．芳基硫酸酯酶活性在小麦越冬期和孕穗期低于对照,在分蘖期和成熟期高于对照;在水稻生育期间均高于对照．脱氢酶活性在小麦和水稻的生育前期低于对照,在后期高于对照．     

An alternative experimental case–control design for genetic association studies on bovine mastitis

The possibility of using genetic control strategies to increase disease resistance to infectious diseases relies on the identification of markers to include in the breeding plans. Possible incomplete exposure of mastitis-free (control) animals, however, is a major issue to find relevant markers in genetic association studies for infectious diseases. Usually, designs based on elite dairy sires are used in association studies, but an epidemiological case–control strategy, based on cows repeatedly field-tested could be an alternative for disease traits. To test this hypothesis, genetic association results obtained in the present work from a cohort of Italian Holstein cows tested for mastitis over time were compared with those from a previous genome-wide scan on Italian Holstein sires genotyped with 50k single nucleotide polymorphisms for de-regressed estimated breeding values for somatic cell counts (SCCs) on Bos taurus autosome (BTA6) and BTA14. A total of 1121 cows were selected for the case–control approach (cases=550, controls=571), on a combination of herd level of SCC incidence and of within herd individual level of SCC. The association study was conducted on nine previously identified markers, six on BTA6 and four on BTA14, using the R statistical environment with the ‘qtscore’ function of the GenABEL package, on high/low adjusted linear score as a binomial trait. The results obtained in the cow cohort selected on epidemiological information were in agreement with those obtained from the previous sire genome-wide association study (GWAS). Six out of the nine markers showed significant association, four on BTA14 (rs109146371, rs109234250, rs109421300, rs109162116) and two on BTA6 (rs110527224 and rs42766480). Most importantly, using mastitis as a case study, the current work further validated the alternative use of historical field disease data in case–control designs for genetic analysis of infectious diseases in livestock.     

Biotic, abiotic and performance aspects of the Nevada Desert Free-Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE) Facility

Arid and semiarid climates comprise roughly 40% of the earth’s terrestrial surface. Deserts are predicted to be extremely responsive to global change because they are stressful environments where small absolute changes in water availability or use represent large proportional changes. Water and carbon dioxide fluxes are inherently coupled in plant growth. No documented global change has been more substantial or more rapid than the increase in atmospheric CO₂. Free Air CO₂ Enrichment (FACE) technology permits manipulation of CO₂ in intact communities without altering factors such as light intensity or quality, humidity or wind. The Nevada Desert FACE Facility (NDFF) consists of three 491 m² plots in the Mojave Desert receiving 550 μL L^–1 CO₂, and six ambient plots to assess both CO₂ and fan effects. The shrub community was characterized as a Larrea–Ambrosia–Lycium species complex. Data are reported through 12 months of operation.     

Data Processing System (DPS) software with experimental design,statistical analysis and data mining developed for use in entomological research

Abstract A comprehensive but simple‐to‐use software package called DPS (Data Processing System) has been developed to execute a range of standard numerical analyses and operations used in experimental design, statistics and data mining. This program runs on standard Windows computers. Many of the functions are specific to entomological and other biological research and are not found in standard statistical software. This paper presents applications of DPS to experimental design, statistical analysis and data mining in entomology.     

The effect of free air carbon dioxide enrichment (FACE) and soil nitrogen availability on the photosynthetic capacity of wheat

A simple system for free air carbon dioxide enrichment (FACE) was recently developed and it is here briefly described. Such a MiniFACE system allowed the elevation of CO₂ concentration of small field plots avoiding the occurrence of large spatial and temporal fluctuations. A CO₂ enrichment field experiment was conducted in Italy in the season 1993–1994 with wheat (cv. Super-dwarf Mercia). A randomized experimental design was used with the treatment combination CO₂ × soil N, replicated twice. Gas exchange measurements showed that photosynthetic capacity was significantly decreased in plants exposed to elevated CO₂ and grown under nitrogen deficiency. Photosynthetic acclimation was, in this case, due to the occurrence of reduced rates of rubP saturated and rubP regeneration limited photosynthesis. Gas exchange measurements did not instead reveal any significant effect of elevated CO₂ on the photosynthetic capacity of leaves of plants well fertilized with nitrogen, in spite of a transitory negative effect on rubP regeneration limited photosynthesis that was detected to occur in the central part of a day with high irradiance. It is concluded that the levels of nitrogen fertilization will play a substantial role in modulating CO₂ fertilization effects on growth and yields of wheat crops under the scenario of future climate change.     

Data and knowledge based experimental design for fermentation process optimization

A novel method for the sequential experimental design in order to optimize fed-batch fermentations was applied to a hyaluronidase fermentation by Streptococcus agalactiae. A Λ-optimal design was introduced to minimize the model parameter estimation error and to maximize the performance of the fermentation process. The method employs hybrid models that contain mechanistic, fuzzy and neural network components.     

Effects of Free-Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE) on experimental grassland communities

1. Experimental grassland communities (turves) were exposed to elevated (60 Pa) and ambient (35 Pa) CO₂ partial pressures (pCO₂) in a Free-Air Carbon Dioxide Enrichment (FACE) experiment between 30 March 1995 and 4 July 1996. The vegetation was cut once during the experiment prior to the final harvest (harvest 2).
2. No significant treatment effects on total plant biomass at the whole turf level were detected, although biomass was typically about 25% higher under fumigation in year 1 and about 15% higher in year 2.
3. Biomass for two of the six sown species was significantly higher at harvest 2 than at harvest 1. There were no significant differences between individual species' biomass under the two CO₂ treatments at either harvest 1 or 2 or in terms of overall cumulative biomass. However, in four of the five sown species in both years biomass tended to be higher in the fumigated than in the control rings ( Cerastium holosteiodes, Phleum pratense, Plantago lanceolata and Poa trivialis ). In contrast, Lolium perenne showed increased biomass under the control treatment relative to the fumigated treatment in both years. Owing to the high variance both within and between rings for each of the two treatments the statistical power of most, but not all, of the analyses carried out was poor.
4. The relative proportions of each species in the turves under fumigated and control treatments was broadly similar after the first summer, with differences in the second year being mainly owing to the negative response of L. perenne to CO₂ fumigation.     

Importance of experimental design in detecting and measuring stresses in marine populations

Environmental sampling to detect and measure the sizesof stresses is made extremely difficult by naturalspatial and temporal variations in most possibleecological measurements. Sound application ofprinciples of experimental design is therefore acrucial component of any study. Temporal replicationbefore and after a disturbance is necessary to ensurethat accurate estimates are made of averageconditions. Otherwise, sampling will only reveal whathappens at the particular time sampled. Spatialreplication of reference or control locations isessential to prevent confounding any interpretation ofa difference between a disturbed and a controllocation. Unless locations are replicated, anydifference may be a stress or may be caused by anyother processes causing a difference. If there is nodifference, this does not mean there is no stress. Environmental stresses are manifested as statisticalinteractions due to changes in time being different indisturbed as opposed to control locations (or,equally, spatial differences between the disturbed andcontrol locations being different before and after thedisturbance). Features of experimental design thatallow the most reliable interpretation of suchinteractions should be the focus of planning ofstudies. Here, an ideal design is considered, withdiscussion of what is lost when (as often happens),idealism cannot be maintained. The discussionidentifies that sound planning, good design andadherence to precautionary principles all require thatunambiguous hypotheses are identified in advance ofsampling. In contrast to other approaches to analysisof stress, this approach has an explicit logicalstructure, assists to prevent confounding ininterpretations, identifies the sizes of stress thatwould elicit different responses from decision-makersand allows advance calculation of power to detect theanticipated stress for any chosen size of sampling. As a result, it is clear that more emphasis is neededon advance categorization of the types, directionsand, above all, magnitudes of stress that might matterin any particular case. Explicit statements about thesize of a possible stress will allow better planning,clearer guidance for development of programmes ofsampling and their interpretation and would reduce theuncertainty that categorizes much of environmentalanalysis.