CO2 enrichment accelerates successional development of an understory plant community

Aims Rising concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂]) may influence forest successional development and species composition of understory plant communities by altering biomass production of plant species of functional groups. Here, we describe how elevated CO₂] (eCO₂) affects aboveground biomass within the understory community of a temperate deciduous forest at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) free-air carbon dioxide enrichment (FACE) facility in eastern Tennessee, USA. We asked if (i) CO₂ enrichment affected total understory biomass and (ii) whether total biomass responses could be explained by changes in understory species composition or changes in relative abundance of functional groups through time.Materials and Methods The FACE experiment started in 1998 with three rings receiving ambient CO₂] (aCO₂) and two rings receiving eCO₂. From 2001 to 2003, we estimated species-specific, woody versus herbaceous and total aboveground biomass by harvesting four 1 × 0.5-m subplots within the established understory plant community in each FACE plot. In 2008, we estimated herbaceous biomass as previously but used allometric relationships to estimate woody biomass across two 5 × 5-m quadrats in each FACE plot.Important findings Across years, aboveground biomass of the understory community was on average 25% greater in eCO₂ than in aCO₂ plots. We could not detect differences in plant species composition between aCO₂ and eCO₂ treatments. However, we did observe shifts in the relative abundance of plant functional groups, which reflect important structural changes in the understory community. In 2001–03, little of the understory biomass was in woody species; herbaceous species made up 94% of the total understory biomass across CO₂] treatments. Through time, woody species increased in importance, mostly in eCO₂, and in 2008, the contribution of herbaceous species to total understory biomass was 61% in aCO₂ and only 33% in eCO₂ treatments. Our results suggest that rising atmospheric CO₂] could accelerate successional development and have longer term impact on forest dynamics.