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Global Climate Change Digest
A Guide to Information on Greenhouse Gases and Ozone Depletion
Published July 1988 through June 1999

FROM VOLUME 3, NUMBER 7, JULY 1990

PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS...
EFFECTS OF CO₂ ON VEGETATION

Item #d90jul21

"Worldwide Environmental Productivity Indices and Yield Predictions for a CAM Plant, Opuntia ficus-indica, Including Effects of Doubled CO₂ Levels," V.G. De Cortázar (Dept. Ingenieria Suelos, Fac. Agron., Univ. Chile, Casilla 1004, Santiago, Chile), P.S. Nobel, Agric. For. Meteor., 49(4), 261-279, Mar. 1990.

Plant productivity was predicted for 253 regions on a world-wide basis using data from 1464 weather stations within 60° of the equator. For simulations including the world-wide changes in photosynthetically active radiation, and temperature and rainfall patterns that will most likely accompany a doubling in the ambient CO₂ level, productivity of at least 10 tons ha-1 yr-1 was predicted in the absence of irrigation for 54% of the earth's land surface area. Under elevated CO₂, there was increased productivity predicted for most of the United States and western South America.

Item #d90jul22

"Plant and Ecosystem Responses to Increasing Atmospheric CO₂," J.I.L. Morison (Dept. Meteor., Univ. Reading, 2 Earley Gate, Whiteknights, Reading RG6 2AU, UK), Trends Ecol. Evolution, 5(3), 69-70, Mar. 1990.

There is an urgent need for quantitative data collected from intact systems, where interactions between components occur, to determine how increased CO₂ and changed climate affect ecosystem primary productivity, carbon sequestering and nutrient cycling. Reviews two studies that measured intact ecosystem responses to increased CO₂: tussock tundra in Alaska, and a salt marsh in Chesapeake Bay.

Item #d90jul23

"Changes in Stomatal Density in Rice Grown Under Various CO₂ Regimes with Natural Solar Irradiance," A.J. Rowland-Bamford (Dept. Agron., Bldg. 164, Univ. Florida, Gainesville FL 32611), C. Nordenbrock et al., Environ. Exper. Bot., 30(2), 175-180, 1990.

Rice grown from seed under natural solar irradiance was exposed to CO₂ from 9 days after planting until senescence. Increasing CO₂ concentrations resulted in a rise in stomatal density of leaves at both growth stages. This response appears to be a species-dependent phenomenon that varies with leaf surface and CO₂ range used.

Item #d90jul24

"Implications of Atmospheric CO₂ Enrichment and Climatic Change for the Geographical Distribution of Two Introduced Vines in the U.S.A.," T.W. Sasek (Sch. Forestry, Duke Univ., Durham NC 27706), B.R. Strain, Clim. Change, 16, 31-51, 1990.

Direct effects of CO₂ enrichment on growth of kudzu and Japanese honeysuckle were assessed by growing them in controlled environment chambers. In both species, CO₂ enrichment increased instantaneous water use efficiency by increasing photosynthetic rates and reducing transpiration rates, suggesting that atmospheric CO₂ enrichment may allow westward and northward spread of both species in the U.S.A. Assessment of indirect effects of climatic change shows that decreases in summer precipitation may minimize westward spread, despite improved water use efficiency and increased drought tolerance.

Item #d90jul25

"The Impact of Climate Change on Continuous Corn Production in the Southern U.S.A.," E.J. Cooter (Oklahoma Climatol. Survey, Univ. Oklahoma, Norman OK 73109), ibid., 53-82.

The Goddard Institute for Space Studies General Circulation Model has been used in conjunction with a field-level plant process model and a field-level pesticide transport model to study the impacts of doubled levels of atmospheric CO₂ on various aspects of corn production. Limitations on the use of the climate scenario in conjunction with the process models are discussed. Results suggest substantial changes in agricultural production and management practices may be needed to respond to the climate changes expected to take place throughout the southern U.S.A.

Item #d90jul26

"Differential Growth Response to Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Enrichment in Seedlings of Cedrus atlantica and Pinus nigra ssp. Laricio var. Corsicana," P. Kaushal, J.M. Guehl (Inst. Nat. Recherche Agron., Ctr. de Nancy, Champenoux, F-54280 Seichamps, France), G. Aussenac, Can. J. For. Res., 19(11), 1351-1358, Nov. 1989.

Nine-month-old seedlings were transplanted into containers permitting root growth observations and later transferred to the greenhouse, where they were exposed to ambient and enriched CO₂ atmospheric conditions. The biomass of enriched plants was 66% (C. atlantica) and 30% (P. nigra) higher than those of plants grown at ambient conditions. Height and diameter growth were 20% (C. atlantica) and 10% (P. nigra) higher in the enriched treatment. The differential growth appears to be related to distinct genetic growth patterns, namely, different patterns of root growth before bud break and during aerial growth.

Item #d90jul27

"Effects of Temperature and CO₂ Enrichment on Kinetic Properties of NADP+-malate Dehydrogenase in Two Ecotypes of Barnyard Grass (Echinochloa crus-galli (L.) Beauv.) from Contrasting Climates," J.-P. Simon (Dept. Biol., C.P. 6128, Succursale A, Montréal, Québec H3C 3J7, Can.), C. Potvin, B.R. Strain, Oecologia, 81(1), 138-144, 1989.

CO₂ enrichment did not modify appreciably the catalytic properties of NADP+-MDH and did not have a compensatory effect upon catalysis or enzyme activity under cool acclimatory conditions. NADP+-MDH activities were always in excess of the amount required to support observed rates of CO₂ assimilation and these two parameters were correlated. The enhanced photosynthetic performance of plants from Québec under cold temperature conditions, as compared to those from Mississippi, cannot be attributed to kinetic differences of NADP+-malate dehydrogenase among these ecotypes.