Last Updated:
February 28, 2007

GCRIO Program Overview

Library 
Our extensive collection of documents.

Privacy Policy

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

FROM VOLUME 4, NUMBER 6, JUNE 1991

PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS...
IMPACTS OF CARBON DIOXIDE

Item #d91jun30

"Predicting Ecosystem Responses to Elevated CO₂ Concentrations," H.A. Mooney (Dept. Biol. Sci., Stanford Univ., Stanford CA 94305), B.G. Drake, et al., BioScience, 41(2), 96-103, Feb. 1991.

Discusses what can be predicted about the CO₂ response of plants from physiological measurements and what has been learned from field observations. Gives results from direct tests of the CO₂ response of whole ecosystems and indicates the promise and problems of the approaches used. Concludes there is an urgent need for additional research on the response of terrestrial ecosystems to elevated CO₂ and climate change. This would include direct experimentation on intact ecosystems, with plots large enough to encompass feedbacks.

Item #d91jun31

"Effect of Elevated Atmospheric CO₂ on Growth, Photosynthesis and Water Relations of Salt Marsh Grass Species," J. Rozema (Dept. Ecol., Free Univ., de Boelelaan 1087, 1081 HV Amsterdam, Neth.), F. Dorel et al., Aquat. Bot., 39(1-2), 45-55, Feb. 1991.

Two C3 and two C4 grass species were grown at ambient and elevated (580 ppm) atmospheric CO₂ concentrations, at low and high salinity, under aerated and anaerobic conditions in culture solution. The relative growth rate of both C3 grasses was enhanced with atmospheric CO₂ enrichment; no such increase was found in the C4 grasses. High salinity reduced growth of the C3 species, but this was not prevented by elevated CO₂ concentration.

Item #d91jun32

"Carbon Dioxide Effects on Carbohydrate Status and Partitioning in Rice," A.J. Rowland-Bamford (Dept. Agron., Bldg. 164, Univ. Florida, Gainesville FL 32611), L.H. Allen Jr. et al., J. Exper. Bot., 41(233), 1601-1608, Dec. 1990.

Rice plants were grown season-long in outdoor, naturally sunlit environmentally controlled growth chambers with CO₂ concentrations of 160-900 micro mol CO₂ mol-1 air. An increase in atmospheric CO₂ concentration over the next century would probably result in an increase in the carbohydrate concentration in the vegetative tissue but not in the grain. Grain yield would improve by an increase in panicles and available carbohydrates to fill the extra grain.

Item #d91jun33

"Changes in N and S Leaf Content, Stomatal Density and Specific Leaf Area of 14 Plant Species during the Last Three Centuries of CO₂ Increase," J. Peñuelas (Ctr. Investigació Agària, Inst. Recerca i Tecnol. Agroaliment., Crta. de Cabrils s/n, 08348 Cabrils (Barcelona), Spain), R. Matamala, ibid., 41(230), 1119-1124, Sep. 1990.

Overall decreases in leaf N content and stomatal density were observed in herbarium specimens of trees, shrubs and herbs collected over the last 240 years in Catalonia, which has a Mediterranean climate. These decreases were steeper during the initial, slower increases in atmospheric CO₂ levels as compared with the relatively faster increases in recent years. Consequently the C/N ratio of leaves has increased, implying possible important consequences on herbivores, decomposers and ecosystems.

Item #d91jun34

"Somatic and Genetic Effects of the Increase of Carbon Dioxide and Other Trace Gases in the Atmosphere through Changes of Radon and Thoron Exhalation Rates and Other Factors," K. Okamoto (Dept. Phys., Tokyo Gakugei Univ., Koganei, Tokyo, Japan 184), Atmos. Environ., 24A(6), 1591-1597, 1990.

Analyzes possible increases in the Earth's rate of exhalation of radon and thoron resulting from changes in temperature, snow and ice melt, soil moisture and atmospheric pressure. Previous studies of effects of radioactive gases on uranium miners indicate that increased radon and thoron could cause increased lung cancer and genetic alterations in the general public.

Item #d91jun35

"Long-Term Photosynthetic Response in Single Leaves of a C3 and C4 Salt Marsh Species Grown at Elevated Atmospheric CO₂ in Situ," L.H. Ziska (Dept. Bot., Univ. Maryland, College Pk. MD 20742), B.G. Drake, S. Chamberlain, Oecologia, 83(4), 469-472, July 1990.

Mono-specific communities of a C3 sedge and a C4 grass were exposed to ambient or elevated CO₂ through the 1987-1988 growing seasons in open-top field chambers on a tidal marsh. Single stems of the C3 sedge, grown at elevated CO₂ for both seasons, showed an increased photosynthetic rate. The C4 grass showed no significant photosynthetic increase, except at the beginning of the 1988 season.