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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 6, NUMBER 2, FEBRUARY 1993

PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS...
IMPACTS OF CO₂

Item #d93feb57

Special issue: "Responses of Vegetation to Elevated Atmospheric Concentrations of Carbon Dioxide," Australian J. Botany, 40(4-5), 1992. Single issues $A40 ($US40); contact Managing Editor, POB 89, East Melbourne, Victoria 3002, Australia.

Contains 20 reviewed papers from a symposium in Canberra, Sep. 1991, in five categories: sources and sinks of CO₂; Rubisco biochemistry and genetic engineering of plants for elevated CO₂; plant responses under different environmental conditions; interactions within natural communities; ecological modeling and environmental planning.

Item #d93feb58

Special issue: "FACE: Free-Air CO₂ Enrichment for Plant Research in the Field," G.R. Hendrey (Brookhaven Nat. Lab., Upton NY 11973), Guest Ed., Critical Rev. in Plant Sci., 11(2-3), 308 pp., 1992. This issue will also be published in book form, by CRC Press, 200 Corp. Blvd. NW, Boca Raton FL 33431 (800-272-7737).

The FACE program has two principal missions: to evaluate the effects of elevated CO₂ on plants and ecosystems, and evaluate how plant-atmosphere interactions may regulate the increase of atmospheric CO₂. Seventeen chapters present the rationale underlying the program, the historical development of free-air controlled fumigation systems, apparatus developed for the program, experimental costs, and research results through 1989, including effects of elevated CO₂ on cotton.

Item #d93feb59

Two items from Nature, 361(6407), Jan. 7, 1993:

"Plant Responses to Carbon Dioxide," K.D.M. McConnaughay (Dept. Biol., Bradley Univ., Peoria IL 61625) et al., p. 24. Discussion on whether growing plants in small pots limits their response to changes in CO₂.

"Increase in C3 Plant Water-Use Efficiency and Biomass over Glacial to Present CO₂ Concentrations," H.W. Polley (Agric. Res. Serv., 808 E. Blackland Rd., Temple TX 76502), H.B. Johnson et al., 61-64. Exposure of oats, wild mustard and wheat plants to various CO₂ levels shows that the rise in atmospheric CO₂ over the last 18,000 years has enhanced biospheric carbon fixation and altered species abundances, by increasing the water-use efficiency of biomass production of C3 plants, the bulk of the Earth's vegetation.

Item #d93feb60

"Photosynthesis and Nitrogen Fixation in Soybean Exposed to Nitrogen Dioxide and Carbon Dioxide," G. Gupta (Dept. Agric. Sci., Univ. Maryland-Eastern Shore, Princess Anne MD 21853), Y. Li, R. Sandhu, J. Environ. Qual., 21(4), 624-626, Oct.-Dec. 1992.

Plants were exposed for five days to levels of NO2 (0.1 M M-1) and CO₂ (450 M M-1) that can be expected in the next 50-100 years, singly and in combination. The stimulatory effect of N₂O alone on the parameters studied was reduced when combined with elevated CO₂.

Item #d93feb61

"Responses to Elevated Carbon Dioxide in Artificial Tropical Ecosystems," C. Körner (Dept. Botany, Univ. Basel, Schönbeinstr. 6, CH-4056 Basel, Switz.), J.A. Arnone III, Science, 257(5877), 1672-1675, Sep. 18, 1992.

No significant influence was observed for stand biomass, leaf area index and certain metabolic factors; major CO₂ effects included starch accumulation in the canopy tops, increased fine-root production, and doubled CO₂ evolution from the soil. Results emphasize the urgent need for whole-system experimental approaches.

Item #d93feb62

"Shrubland Expansion in the American Southwest," S.B. Idso (U.S. Water Conserv. Lab., Phoenix AZ 85040), Clim. Change, 22(1), 85-86, Sep. 1992. Another hypothesis for the phenomenal expansion of brush and shrublands observed over the past two centuries in the American Southwest is stimulation by the contemporaneous increase of atmospheric CO₂ content.

Item #d93feb63

"Growth and Gas Exchange of Oats (Avena sativa) and Wild Mustard (Brassica kaber) at Subambient CO₂ Concentrations," H.W. Polley (USDA-ARS, Grassland Res. Lab., Temple TX 76502), H.B. Johnson, H.S. Mayeux, Intl. J. Plant Sci., 153(3), 453-461, Sep. 1992.

Plants were grown at 150 to 330 M M-1 to determine effects of subambient CO₂ on leaf gas exchange, biomass production and competitive interactions of these C3 species. Results indicate that the 27% rise in CO₂ since the start of the nineteenth century may have profoundly altered the productivity of C3 plants.

Item #d93feb64

"Photosynthesis in Willows (Salix x dasyclados) Grown at Different CO₂ Concentrations and Fertilization Levels," J. Silvola (Dept. Biol., Univ. Joensuu, POB 111, SF-80101 Joensuu, Finland), U. Ahlholm, Oecologia, 91(2), 208-213, Aug. 1992.

Four-month experiments at four nutrient levels and CO₂ concentrations up to 1000 ppm showed that photosynthesis became saturated at lower light intensities in lower CO₂, and that the CO₂ effect was greater at higher temperatures.

Item #d93feb65

"Plant Nutrition and Growth Regulation by CO₂ Enrichment," B. Grodzinski, Bioscience, 42(7), 517-525, July-Aug. 1992.

Assesses the role of CO₂ as the primary nutrient for growth, and its possible role as a major regulator of plant developmental processes. The effects of high CO₂ on a plant are the consequence of many direct and indirect processes.

Item #d93feb66

"Comparison of Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Concentration and Metabolic Activity in Boreal Forest Ecosystems," G.B. Bonan (NCAR, POB 3000, Boulder CO 80307), Tellus, 44B(3), 173-185, July 1992.

A mechanistic model of photosynthesis, respiration and decomposition was driven with the observed annual increase in atmospheric CO₂ concentration, daily temperature and precipitation over the period 1974-1982. Results show that a larger seasonal amplitude of CO₂ can occur without large changes in net primary production, nutrient availability or nutrient use efficiency.

Item #d93feb67

"Canopy Photosynthesis and Evapotranspiration of Rangeland Plants under Doubled Carbon Dioxide in Closed-Top Chambers," D. Nie, ...M.B. Kirkham (Evapotranspiration Lab., Dept. Agron., Kansas State Univ., Manhattan KS 66506) et al., Agric. For. Meteor., 61, 205-217, 1992.

Results of tests with predominantly warm season, C4 plants are consistent with previous findings showing no augmentation of the photosynthetic rate of rangeland plants and alleviation of water stress effects at elevated CO₂, and suggest that as CO₂ increases, water loss from rangelands will be reduced.

Item #d93feb68

"Root and Shoot Weight in a Tallgrass Prairie under Elevated Carbon Dioxide," G. Mo, ...M.B. Kirkham (addr. immed. above) et al., Environ. Exper. Bot., 32(3), 193-201, 1992.

Tallgrass prairie vegetation was grown for two seasons at either high or low water level. The CO₂ and water treatments had no significant effect on root dry weight in the 0-40 cm depth; doubled CO₂ reduced root dry weight and length in the 0-10 cm depth under high water level. Warm-season, C4 grasses had the highest shoot dry weight, which was greatest under the high water, ambient CO₂ treatment.

Item #d93feb69

"Response of Acer saccharum Seedlings to Elevated Carbon Dioxide and Ozone," R. Noble (Dept. Biol., Bowling Green State Univ., Bowling Green OH 43403), K.F. Jensen et al., Ohio J. Sci., 92(3), 60-62, June 1992.

After 85 days of exposure, net photosynthesis measured on initial and recently formed leaves tended to increase with CO₂. Ozone at 0.15 ppm did not have an impact on either net photosynthesis or growth, but with ozone treatment biomass increased at elevated CO₂.

Item #d93feb70

"Stomatal Conductance, Photosynthesis and Respiration of Temperate Deciduous Tree Seedlings Grown Outdoors at an Elevated Concentration of Carbon Dioxide," J.A. Bunce (USDA-ARS, Clim. Stress Lab., Beltsville Res. Ctr., Beltsville MD 20705), Plant, Cell, Environ., 15(5), 541-549, June 1992.

Stomatal conductance for plants grown at 700 ppm CO₂ did not differ from those grown at 350 ppm in Malus domestica, Quercus prinus and Quercus robur. Elevated CO₂ caused lower conductances only at temperatures above 33·C. All species had lower rates of dark respiration per unit mass at elevated CO₂.

Item #d93feb71

"CO₂ Enhancement of Growth and Photosynthesis in Rice (Oryza sativa)--Modification by Increased Ultraviolet-B Radiation," L.H. Ziska (Dept. Bot., Univ. Maryland, College Pk. MD 20742), A.H. Teramura, Plant Physiol., 99(2), 473-481, June 1992.

Two cultivars of rice showed decreased nighttime respiration and increased photosynthesis, total biomass and yield at elevated CO₂, but in the presence of increased UV-B as well, the latter three effects were eliminated in one cultivar and reduced in the other. Alterations in rice growth or photosynthesis may be eliminated or reduced if UV-B radiation continues to increase from ozone depletion.

Item #d93feb72

"Effect of Elevated CO₂ on the Photosynthesis, Respiration and Growth of Perennial Ryegrass," G.J.A. Ryle (44 Webster Close, Maidenhead, Berks. SL6 4NW, UK), C.E. Powell, V. Tewson, J. Exper. Bot., 43(251), 811-818, June 1992.

Plants grown for 49 days at 680 ppm CO₂ initially grew faster than their counterparts grown at 340 ppm, but the effect diminished and final plant weights differed by only about 10%. The lack of a pronounced effect of elevated CO₂ on plant growth was primarily due to the lack of an influence on tiller numbers.

Item #d93feb73

"Elevated CO₂ Differentially Alters the Responses to Co-Occurring Birch and Maple Seedlings to a Moisture Gradient," S.L. Miao, P.M. Wayne, F.A. Bazzaz (Dept. Organismic & Evolutionary Biol., Harvard Univ., 15 Divinity Ave., Cambridge MA 02138), Oecologia, 90(2), 300-304, 1992.

Seedlings grown along a moisture gradient ranging from extreme drought to flooded conditions showed enhanced growth at elevated CO₂ contingent on soil moisture and differing for the two species. Results highlight the utility of experiments combining CO₂ levels with gradients of other resources to elucidate the potential consequences of elevated CO₂ on species distributions and interactions in natural communities.

Item #d93feb74

"Diurnal Changes in the Response of Canopy Photosynthetic Rate to Elevated CO₂ in a Coupled Temperature-Light Environment," I. Nijs (Univ. Insteling Antwerp, Dept. Biol., Univ. Plein 1, B-2610 Wilrijk, Belg.), I. Impens, P. Vanhecke, Photosyn. Res., 32(2), 121-130, May 1992. CO₂ uptake rate was on average twice as large at 626 compared to 358 ppm, a difference determined primarily by temperature rather than light. Afternoon depression in CO₂ uptake was alleviated by elevated CO₂.

Item #d93feb75

"Changes in Leaf 13C of Herbarium Plant Species during the Last Three Centuries of CO₂ Increase," J. Penuelas (Inst. Recerca & Technol. Agroalimentaries, Carretera Cabrils S-N, E-08034 Cabrils, Spain), J. Azconbieto, Plant, Cell, Environ., 15(4), 485-489, May 1992.

Values of 13C were determined for specimens of trees, plants and shrubs collected during the last 240 years in Catalonia, Spain. Results suggest that either C assimilation rates have increased or stomatal conductance has decreased, and hence there has been an increase in water use efficiency over the last few decades.