Summary
Six early successional plant species with differing photosynthetic pathways (3 C3 species and 3 C4 species) were grown at either 300, 600, or 1,200 ppm CO2 and at either 0.0 or 0.25 ppm SO2. Total plant growth increased with CO2 concentration for the C3 species and varied only slightly with CO2 for the C4 species. Fumigation with SO2 caused reduced growth of the C3 species at 300 ppm CO2 but not at the higher concentrations of CO2. Fumigation with SO2 reduced growth of the C4 species at high CO2 and increased growth at 300 ppm CO2. Leaf area increased with increasing CO2 for all plant species. Fumigation with SO2 reduced leaf area of C3 plants more at low CO2 than at high CO2 while leaf area of C4 plants was reduced more at high CO2 than at low CO2. These results support the notion that C3 species are more sensitive to SO2 fumigation than are C4 species at concentrations of CO2 equal to that found in normal ambient air. However, the difference in sensitivity to SO2 between C3 and C4 species was found to be reversed at higher concentrations of CO2. A possible explanation for this reversal based upon differences in stomatal response to elevated CO2 between C3 and C4 species is discussed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Acock B, Charles-Edwards DA, Hand DW (1976) An analysis of some effects of humidity on photosynthesis by a tomato canopy under winter light conditions and a range of carbon dioxide concentrations. J Expt Bot 27:933–941
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, Moss DN (1973) Photosynthetic responses to CO2 and light by maize and wheat leaves adjusted for constant stomatal apartures. Crop Sci 13:234–237
Akita S, Tanaka I (1973) Studies on the mechanism of differences in photosynthesis among species. Part 4. The differential response in dry matter production between 3 carbon and 4 carbon species to atmospheric carbon dioxide enrichment. Proc Crop Sci Soc Jap 42:288–295
Bacastow R, Keeling CD (1973) Atmospheric carbon dioxide and radiocarbon in the natural carbon cycle: II. Changes from A.D. 1700 to 2070 as deduced from a geochemical model. In: Woodwell GM, Pecan EV (eds) Carbon and the biosphere. National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA, pp 86–135
Baes CF, Goeller HE, Olson JS, Rotty RM (1977) Carbon dioxide and climate: The uncontrolled experiment. Am Sci 65:310–320
Baker DN (1965) Effects of certain environmental factors on net assimilation in cotton. Crop Sci 5:53–56
Bazzaz FA, Boyer JS (1972) A compensating method for measuring carbon dioxide exchange, transpiration and diffusive resistances of plants under controlled environmental conditions. Ecology 53:343–349
Bierhuizen JF, Slatyer RO (1965) Effect of atmospheric concentration of water vapor and CO2 in determining transpiration and photosynthesis relationships of cotton leaves. Agr Meteorol 2:259–270
Bishop PM, Whittingham CP (1968) The photosynthesis of tomato plants in a carbon dioxide enriched atmosphere. Photosynthetica 2:31–38
Black VJ, Unsworth MH (1979) Resistance analysis of sulphur dioxide fluxes to Vicia faba. Nature 282:68–69
Brandt CS, Heck WW (1968) Effects of air pollutants on vegetation. In: Stern AC (ed) Air pollution, 2nd ed, vol I. Academic Press, New York, pp 401–443
Brun WA, Cooper RL (1967) Effect of light intensity and carbon dioxide concentration on photosynthetic rate of soybean. Crop Sci 7:451–454
Carlson RW (1979) Reduction in the photosynthetic rate of Acer, Quercus and Fraxinus species caused by sulphur dioxide and ozone. Environ Pollut 18:159–170
Carlson RW, Bazzaz FA (1980) Elevated CO2 concentrations differentially increase growth, photosynthesis, and water use efficiency of plants—Ecological implications. Invited paper. In: Singh JJ, Deepak A (eds) Symposium on environmental and climatic impact of coal utilization, Inst. for Atmos. Optics and Remote Sensing, Hampton, VA. Academic Press, New York
Collins WB (1976) Effect of carbon dioxide enrichment on growth of the potato plant. Hortsci 11:467–469
Egli DB, Pendleton JW, Baker DB (1970) Photosynthetic rate of three soybean communities as related to carbon dioxide levels and solar radiation. Agron J 62:411–414
Feder WA (1970) Plant response to chronic exposure to low levels of oxidant type air pollution. Environ Pollut 1:73–79
Goudriaan J, Van Laar HH (1978) Relations between leaf resistance, CO2-concentration and CO2-assimilation in maize, beans, lalang grass and sunflower. Photosynthetica 12:241–249
Green K, Wright R (1977) Field response of photosynthesis to CO2 enrichment in ponderosa pine. Ecology 58:687–692
Harper LA, Baker DN, Box JE, Hesketh JD (1973) Carbon dioxide and the photosynthesis of field crops: A metered carbon dioxide release in cotton under field conditions. Agron J 65:7–11
Hindawi IJ (1970) Air pollution injury to vegetation. USDA Govt Print Ofc, Washington, D.C., 44 p
Ho LC (1977) Effects of CO2 enrichment on the rates of photosynthesis and translocation of tomato leaves. Ann Appl Biol 87:191–200
Hou L, Hill AC, Soleimani A (1977) Influence of CO2 on the effects of SO2 and NO2 on alfalfa. Environ Pollut 12:7–16
Keeling CD (1973a) Industrial production of carbon dioxide from fossil fuels and limestone. Tellus 25:174–198
Keeling CD (1973b) The carbon dioxide cycle: Reservoir models to depict the exchange of atmospheric carbon dioxide with the oceans and land plants. In: Rasool SI (ed) Chemistry of the lower atmosphere. Plenum Press New York, NY, pp. 251–329
Louwerse W (1980) Effects of CO2 concentration and irradiance on the stomatal behaviour of maize, barley and sunflower plants in the field. Plant Cell Environ 3:391–398
Majernik O, Mansfield TA (1970) Direct effect of SO2 pollution on the degree of opening of stomata. Nature 227:377–378
Majernik O, Mansfield TA (1972) Stomatal responses to raised atmospheric CO2 concentrations during exposure of plants to SO2 pollution. Environ Pollut 3:1–7
Mansfield TA (1973) The role of stomata in determining the responses of plants to air pollutants. Current Adv Plant Sci 2:11–20
Martin A, Barber FR (1981) Sulphur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen and ozone measured continuously for 2 years at a rural site. Atmos Environ 15:567–578
Maugh TH (1979) SO2 pollution may be good for plants. Science 205:383
Middleton JT, Darley EF, Brewer RF (1958) Damage to vegetation from polluted atmospheres. J Air Pollut Contr Assoc 8:9–15
Moss DN, Musgrave RB, Lemon ER (1961) Photosynthesis under field conditions. III. Some effects of light, carbon dioxide, temperature, and soil moisture on photosynthesis, respiration, and transpiration of corn. Crop Sci 1:83–87
Muller RN, Miller JE, Sprugel DG (1979) Photosynthetic response of field-grown soybeans to fumigations with sulphur dioxide. J Appl Ecology 16:567–576
Pallas JE (1965) Transpiration and stomatal opening with changes in carbon dioxide content of the air. Science 147:171–173
Patterson DT, Flint EP (1980) Potential effects of global atmospheric CO2 enrichment on the growth and competitiveness of C-3 and C-4 weed and crop plants. Weed Sci 28:71–75
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
Revelle R, Suess HE (1957) Carbon dioxide exchange between the atmosphere and ocean, and the question of an increase in atmospheric CO2 during the past decades. Tellus 9:18
Stone LL, Skelly JM (1974) The growth of two forest tree species adjacent to a periodic source of air pollution. Phytopathology 64:773–778
Thomas MD (1951) Gas damage to plants. Ann Rev Plant Physiol 2:293–322
Thomas MD, Hendricks RH, Hill GR (1950) Sulfur metabolism of plants. Effect of sulfur dioxide on vegetation. Ind Eng Chem 42:2231–2235
Thomas MD, Hill GR (1937) Relation of sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere to photosynthesis and respiration of alfalfa. Plant Physiol 12:309–383
Tinus RW (1974) Impact of the CO2 requirement on plant water use. Agric Meteorol 14:99–112
Unsworth MH, Biscoe PV, Pinckney HR (1972) Stomatal responses to sulphur dioxide. Nature (Lond) 239:458
Unsworth MH, Biscoe PV, Black V (1976) Analysis of gas exchange between plants and polluted atmospheres. In: Mansfield TA (ed) Effects of air pollutants on plants. Cambridge Univ Press, Cambridge, England, 209 pp
White KL, Hill AC, Bennett JH (1974) Synergistic inhibition of apparent photosynthesis rate of alfalfa by combinations of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide. Environ Sci Technol 8:574–576
Whittingham CP (1972) The relationship between crop physiology and analytical plant physiology. In: Rees AR, Cockshull KE, Hand DW, Hurd RG (eds) Crop processes in controlled environments. Academic Press, New York, pp 175–184
Winner WE, Mooney HA (1980) Ecology of SO2 resistance: III. Metabolic changes of C3 and C4 Atriplex species due to SO2 fumigations. Oecologia (Berl) 46:49–54
Ziegler I (1972) The effect of SO3/-2 on the activity of ribulose-1,5-diphosphate carboxylase in isolated spinach chloroplasts. Planta 103:155–163
Ziegler I (1973) Effect of sulphite on phosphoenolypyruvate carboxylase and malate formation in extracts of Zea mays. Phytochemistry 12:1027–1030
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Carlson, R.W., Bazzaz, F.A. Photosynthetic and growth response to fumigation with SO2 at elevated CO2 for C3 and C4 plants. Oecologia 54, 50–54 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00541106
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00541106