Growth and senescence in plant communities exposed to elevated CO2 concentrations on an estuarine marsh

Summary Three high marsh communities on the Chesapeake Bay were exposed to a doubling in ambient CO₂ concentration for one growing season. Open-top chambers were used to raise CO₂ concentrations ca. 340 ppm above ambient over monospecific communities of Scirpus olneyi (C₃) and Spartina patens (C₄), and a mixed community of S. olneyi, S. patens, and Distichlis spicata (C₄). Plant growth and senescence were monitored by serial, nondestructive censuses. Elevated CO₂ resulted in increased shoot densities and delayed sensecence in the C₃ species. This resulted in an increase in primary productivity in S. olneyi growing in both the pure and mixed communities. There was no effect of CO₂ on growth in the C₄ species. These results demonstrate that elevated atmospheric CO₂ can cause increased aboveground production in a mature, unmanaged ecosystem.     

CO2-induced growth enhancements of co-occurring tree species decline at different rates

To elucidate how enriched CO₂ atmospheres, soil fertility, and light availability interact to influence the long-term growth of tree seedlings, six co-occurring members of temperate forest communities including ash (Fraxinus americana L.), gray birch (Betula populifolia), red maple (Acer rubrum), yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis), striped maple (Acer pensylvanicum), and red oak (Quercus rubra L.) were raised in a glasshouse for three years in a complete factorial design. After three years of growth, plants growing in elevated CO₂ atmospheres were generally larger than those in ambient CO₂ atmospheres, however, magnitudes of CO₂-induced growth enhancements were contingent on the availability of nitrogen and light, as well as species identity. For all species, magnitudes of CO₂-induced growth enhancements after one year of growth were greater than after three years of growth, though species' growth enhancements over the three years declined at different rates. These results suggest that CO₂-induced enhancements in forest productivity may not be sustained for long periods of time. Additionally, species' differential growth responses to elevated CO₂ may indirectly influence forest productivity via long-term species compositional changes in forests.     

Crop responses to CO2 enrichment

Carbon dioxide is rising in the global atmosphere, and this increase can be expected to continue into the foreseeable future. This compound is an essential input to plant life. Crop function is affected across all scales from biochemical to agro-ecosystem. An array of methods (leaf cuvettes, field chambers, free-air release systems) are available for experimental studies of CO₂ effects. Carbon dioxide enrichment of the air in which crops grow usually stimulates their growth and yield. Plant structure and physiology are markedly altered. Interactions between CO₂ and environmental factors that influence plants are known to occur. Implications for crop growth and yield are enormous. Strategies designed to assure future global food security must include a consideration of crop responses to elevated atmospheric CO₂. Future research should include these targets: search for new insights, development of new techniques, construction of better simulation models, investigation of belowground processes, study of interactions, and the elimination of major discrepancies in the scientific knowledge base.     

Responses in stomatal conductance to elevated CO2 in 12 grassland species that differ in growth form

Responses in stomatal conductance (g _st ) and leaf xylem pressure potential ( _leaf ) to elevated CO₂ (2x ambient) were compared among 12 tallgrass prairie species that differed in growth form and growth rate. Open-top chambers (OTCs, 4.5 m diameter, 4.0 m in height) were used to expose plants to ambient and elevated CO₂ concentrations from April through November in undisturbed tallgrass prairie in NE Kansas (USA). In June and August, _leaf was usually higher in all species at elevated CO₂ and was lowest in adjacent field plots (without OTCs). During June, when water availability was high, elevated CO₂ resulted in decreased g _st in 10 of the 12 species measured. Greatest decreases in g _st (ca. 50%) occurred in growth forms with the highest potential growth rates (C₃ and C₄ grasses, and C₃ ruderals). In contrast, no significant decrease in g _st was measured in the two C₃ shrubs. During a dry period in September, reductions in g _st at elevated CO₂ were measured in only two species (a C₃ ruderal and a C₄ grass) whereas increased g _st at elevated CO₂ was measured in the shrubs and a C₃ forb. These increases in g _st were attributed to enhanced _leaf in the elevated CO₂ plants resulting from increased soil water availability and/or greater root biomass. During a wet period in September, only reductions in g _st were measured in response to elevated CO₂. Thus, there was significant interspecific variability in stomatal responses to CO₂ that may be related to growth form or growth rate and plant water relations. The effect of growth in the OTCs, relative to field plants, was usually positive for g _st and was greatest (>30%) when water availability was low, but only 6–12% when _leaf was high.The results of this study confirm the importance of considering interactions between indirect effects of high CO₂ of plant water relations and direct effects of elevated CO₂ on g _st , particularly in ecosystems such as grasslands where water availability often limits productivity. A product of this interaction is that the potential exists for either positive or negative responses in g _st to be measured at elevated levels of CO₂.     

提高CO2浓度对两种亚热带树苗生物量及叶片特性的影响

 广东鼎湖山季风常绿阔叶林的主要优势乔木树种荷木和黧蒴幼苗生长于自然光照和人工调节CO2浓度为500±50μl·L-1或空气CO2(350μl·L-1)的气罩中3个月。高CO2浓度下生长的黧蒴和荷木植株总干物质量分别增加26.6％和16.6%,根部增加量最大,地上部分所占的比例降低,根冠比上升,基径增大而株高降低。高CO2浓度下生长的叶片密度及比叶重增加,叶肉细胞间隙体积减少。单位干重的黧蒴叶片可溶性糖含量、全碳、磷、钾含量在高CO2浓度下稍为下降,果糖、葡萄糖、蔗糖、全氮、镁含量及N/C比明显降低。而全钙含量无明显变化。     

Modelling Plant Responses to Elevated CO2: How Important is Leaf Area Index?

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The problem of increasing CO(2) concentration [CO(2)] and associated climate change has generated much interest in modelling effects of [CO(2)] on plants. While variation in growth and productivity is closely related to the amount of intercepted radiation, largely determined by leaf area index (LAI), effects of elevated [CO(2)] on growth are primarily via stimulation of leaf photosynthesis. Variability in LAI depends on climatic and growing conditions including [CO(2)] concentration and can be high, as is known for agricultural crops which are specifically emphasized in this report. However, modelling photosynthesis has received much attention and photosynthesis is often represented inadequately detailed in plant productivity models. Less emphasis has been placed on the modelling of leaf area dynamics, and relationships between plant growth, elevated [CO(2)] and LAI are not well understood. This Botanical Briefing aims at clarifying the relative importance of LAI for canopy assimilation and growth in biomass under conditions of rising [CO(2)] and discusses related implications for process-based modelling. MODEL: A simulation exercise performed for a wheat crop demonstrates recent experimental findings about canopy assimilation as affected by LAI and elevation of [CO(2)]. While canopy assimilation largely increases with LAI below canopy light saturation, effects on canopy assimilation of [CO(2)] elevation are less pronounced and tend to decline as LAI increases. Results from selected model-testing studies indicate that simulation of LAI is often critical and forms an important source of uncertainty in plant productivity models, particularly under conditions of limited resource supply. CONCLUSIONS: Progress in estimating plant growth and productivity under rising [CO(2)] is unlikely to be achieved without improving the modelling of LAI. This will depend on better understanding of the processes of substrate allocation, leaf area development and senescence, and the role of LAI in controlling plant adaptation to environmental changes.     

Genotype-specific response of a lycaenid herbivore to elevated carbon dioxide and phosphorus availability in calcareous grassland

Effects of elevated CO₂ and P availability on plant growth of the legume Lotus corniculatus and consequences for the butterfly larvae of Polyommatus icarus feeding on L. corniculatus were investigated in screen-aided CO₂ control chambers under natural conditions on a calcareous grassland in the Swiss Jura mountains. Elevated CO₂ conditions and P fertilisation increased the biomass production of L. corniculatus plants and affected the plant chemical composition. CO₂ enrichment increased the C/N ratio and sugar concentration and decreased the N and P concentrations. C- and N-based allelochemicals (cyanoglycosides, total polyphenols and condensed tannins) were only marginally affected by CO₂ enrichment. P fertilisation increased the specific leaf area and concentrations of water, N, sugar and P, while the C/N ratio and the concentration of total polyphenols decreased. Furthermore, P availability marginally enhanced the effect of elevated CO₂ on the total dry mass and sugar concentration while the opposite occurred for the total polyphenol concentration. The changes in food-plant chemistry as a result of P fertilisation positively affected larval mass gain and accelerated the development time of P. icarus. Only a marginal negative effect on larval mass gain was found for CO₂ enrichment. However, we found genotype-specific responses in the development time of P. icarus to elevated CO₂ conditions. Larvae originating from different mothers developed better either under elevated CO₂ or under ambient CO₂ but some did not react to CO₂ elevation. As far as we know this is the first finding of a genotype-specific response of an insect herbivore to elevated CO₂ which suggests genetic shifts in insect life history traits in response to elevated CO₂.