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Effects of species richness and elevated carbon dioxide on biomass accumulation: a synthesis using meta-analysis

  • Ecophysiology
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Abstract

Magnitude of growth enhancement by elevated CO2 in a plant assemblage is dependent on a number of biotic and abiotic factors, including species richness. In this meta-analysis, we examined effects of elevated CO2 on plant biomass accumulation in single- (populations) and multi-species (communities) assemblages. The primary objectives were to statistically synthesize the voluminous CO2 studies conducted so far and to assess the collective response of plant growth to elevated CO2 as affected by species richness. Our analysis showed that biomass enhancement by higher CO2 was consistently lower in communities than in populations. For example, total plant biomass (W T) increased only 13% in communities compared to 30% in populations in response to elevated CO2 across all studies included in this synthesis. Above- and below-ground biomass responded similarly as W T to elevated CO2 and species richness. Smaller growth enhancement by CO2 was found in communities consisting of species of different growth forms (woody vs. herbaceous species) or functional groups (legumes vs. non-legumes). This pattern was consistent across three major classes of facilities (closed, semi-open and open systems) used to manipulate CO2 concentrations. An analysis of free-air CO2 enrichment studies revealed that the population–community difference in growth enhancement by higher CO2 was also dependent on the rate of N addition. Populations responded more than communities only when soil was amended with N. From the CO2 studies synthesized in this meta-analysis, it is obvious that the collective growth responsiveness to elevated CO2 will be lower in communities than in populations. We hypothesize that resource usurpation, i.e., competitive compartmentation of growth-limiting resources by less responsive species, may be important in determining growth response to elevated CO2 in a community and is one of the reasons responsible for the lower biomass enhancement by elevated CO2 in communities, as found in this synthesis.

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Acknowledgements

Thanks are due to all the anonymous referees for thorough and critical reviewing of an earlier version of this manuscript. Financial support for this project was provided in part by the School of Science, Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) and the IUPUI Office of Professional Development. We thank the Interlibrary Loan Team at the IUPUI University Library for obtaining a large number of articles for this project. The technical support of Isaac Arthur, Alex Owusu-Agyeman, Ryan Jenkinson, Doug Latino, Ly Khan Vu and a number of other students is gratefully acknowledged. This synthesis complies with the current laws of the United States, in which the analysis was conducted.

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  1. Department of Biology, Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis, 723 West Michigan Street, Indianapolis, IN, 46202-5132, USA

    Xianzhong Wang

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Communicated by Ram Oren.

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Wang, X. Effects of species richness and elevated carbon dioxide on biomass accumulation: a synthesis using meta-analysis. Oecologia 152, 595–605 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-007-0691-5

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