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Elevated CO2 reduces sap flux in mature deciduous forest trees

  • Ecosystems Ecology
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Abstract

We enriched in CO2 the canopy of 14 broad-leaved trees in a species-rich, ca. 30-m-tall forest in NW Switzerland to test whether elevated CO2 reduces water use in mature forest trees. Measurements of sap flux density (J S) were made prior to CO2 enrichment (summer 2000) and throughout the first whole growing season of CO2 exposure (2001) using the constant heat-flow technique. The short-term responses of sap flux to brief (1.5–3 h) interruptions of CO2 enrichment were also examined. There were no significant a priori differences in morphological and physiological traits between trees which were later exposed to elevated CO2 (n=14) and trees later used as controls (n=19). Over the entire growing season, CO2 enrichment resulted in an average 10.7% reduction in mean daily J S across all species compared to control trees. Responses were most pronounced in Carpinus, Acer, Prunus and Tilia, smaller in Quercus and close to zero in Fagus trees. The J S of treated trees significantly increased by 7% upon transient exposure to ambient CO2 concentrations at noon. Hence, responses of the different species were, in the short term, similar in magnitude to those observed over the whole season (though opposite because of the reversed treatment). The reductions in mean J S of CO2-enriched trees were high (22%) under conditions of low evaporative demand (vapour pressure deficit, VPD <5 hPa) and small (2%) when mean daily VPD was greater than 10 hPa. During a relatively dry period, the effect of elevated CO2 on J S even appeared to be reversed. These results suggest that daily water savings by CO2-enriched trees may have accumulated to a significantly improved water status by the time when control trees were short of soil moisture. Our data indicate that the magnitude of CO2 effects on stand transpiration will depend on rainfall regimes and the relative abundance of the different species, being more pronounced under humid conditions and in stands dominated by species such as Carpinus and negligible in mono-specific Fagus forests.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dieter Spinnler, Günter Hoch and Eric Jüdin for helpful suggestions concerning statistical issues, Rolf Siegwolf (Paul Scherrer Institute Stable Isotope Facility) for isotope analysis and valuable discussion, and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments, which greatly improved this manuscript. This research was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (grant 3100–059769.99). The crane was sponsored by the Swiss Federal Office of the Environment (BUWAL) and the University of Basel.

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  1. Institute of Botany, University of Basel, Schönbeinstrasse 6, 4056 , Basel, Switzerland

    Patrick G. Cech, Steeve Pepin & Christian Körner

  2. Ministère des Ressources naturelles de la Faune et des Parcs, Direction de la recherche forestière, 2700 rue Einstein, Sainte-Foy, Québec, G1P 3W8, Canada

    Steeve Pepin

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  1. Patrick G. Cech
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  2. Steeve Pepin
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Correspondence to Steeve Pepin.

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Cech, P.G., Pepin, S. & Körner, C. Elevated CO2 reduces sap flux in mature deciduous forest trees. Oecologia 137, 258–268 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-003-1348-7

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