Summary
Four coexisting annual plant species were grown in competition at three levels of CO2 (300, 600, and 1,200 ppm) and two levels of soil moisture (moist and dry). Plant height was higher at high CO2 concentrations for the three C3 species but not for the C4 species (Amaranthus retroflexus). Total community biomass increased with increasing CO2 at both soil moisture levels. The contribution of each species to total community biomass was influenced by CO2 concentration. The effects were especially pronounced for Polygonum pensylvanicum which contributed more to community production as CO2 and soil moisture increased. Amaranthus behaved in exactly the reverse way; it did best under ambient CO2 and dry soil moisture conditions. The results suggest that changes in competitive interactions and community structure will occur with the anticipated rise in global CO2 concentration.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Akita S, Moss DN (1972) Differential stomatal response between C3 and C4 species to atmospheric CO2 concentration and light. Crop Sci 12:789–793
Akita S, Tanaka I (1973) Studies on the mechanism of differences in photosynthesis among species. IV. The differential response in dry matter production between 3 carbon and 4 carbon species to atmospheric carbon dioxide. Proc Crop Sci Jap 43:288–295
Aoki M, Yabuki K (1977) Studies on the carbon dioxide enrichment for plant growth. VII. Changes in dry matter production and photosynthetic rate of cucumber during carbon dioxide enrichment. Agric Meteorol 18:475–485
Baes CF, Goellet HE, Olson JS, Rotty RM (1977) Carbon dioxide and climate: The uncontrolled experiment. Am Scientist 65:310–320
Carlson RW, Bazzaz FA (1980) Elevated CO2 concentrations differentially increase growth, photosynthesis, and water use efficiency of plants — Ecological implications. In: Sympsoium on Environmental and Climatic Impact of of Coal Utiliaztion, Inst for Atmos. Optics and Remote Sensing, Hampton VA, Singh JJ, Deepak A (eds) pp 609–622
Carlson RW, Bazzaz FA (1982) Photosynthetic and growth responses to fumigation with SO2 at elevated CO2 for C3 and C4 plants. Oecologia (Berlin) 54:50–54
Clough JM, Peet MM, Kramer PJ (1981) Effects of high atmospheric CO2 and sink size on rates of photosynthesis of a soybean cultivar. Plant Physiol 67:1007–1010
Goudriaan J, Laar HH van (1978) Relations between leaf resistance, CO2-concentration and CO2-assimilation in maize, beans, lalang grass and sunflower. Phtosynthetica 12:241–249
Imai K, Murata Y (1978) Effect of carbon dioxide concentration on growth and dry matter production of crop plants. II. Relationship between CO2 concentration and nitrogen nutrition in some C3- and C4-speciees. Jap J Crop Sci 47:118–123
Louwerse W (1980) Effects of CO2 concentration and irradiance on the stomatal behavior of maize, barley and sunflower plants in the field. Plant, Cell and Environment 3:391–398
Patterson DT, Flint EP (1980) Potential effects of global atmospheric CO2 enrichment on the growth and competitiveness of C3 and C4 weeds and crop plants. Weed Sci 28:71–75
Pickett STA, Bazzaz FA (1978) Organization of an assemblage of early successional species on a soil moisture gradient. Ecology 59:1248–1255
Raschke K (1975) Stomatal action. Ann Rev Pl Physiol 26:309–340
Regehr DL, Bazzaz FA, Boggess WR (1975) Photosynthesis, transpiration and leaf conductance of Populus deltoides in relation to flooding and drought. Photosynthetica 9:52–61
Sionit N, Hellmers H, Strain BR (1980) Growth and yield of wheat under CO2 enrichment and water stress. Crop Sci 20:687–690
Strain BR, Bazzaz FA (1983) Terrestrial communities. In: CO2 and plants: The response of plants to rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Lemon E (ed) Westview Press, Boulder
Wittwer SH, Robb W (1964) Carbon dioxide enrichment of greenhouse atmospheres for crop production. Econ Bot 18:34–56
Wong SC (1979) Elevated atmospheric partial pressure of CO2 and plant growth. I. Interactions of nitrogen nutrition and photosynthetic capacity in C3 and C4 plants. Oecologia (Berlin) 44:68–74
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bazzaz, F.A., Carlson, R.W. The response of plants to elevated CO2 . Oecologia 62, 196–198 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00379013
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00379013