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Elevated carbon dioxide alters impacts of precipitation pulses on ecosystem photosynthesis and respiration in a semi-arid grassland

  • Global change ecology - Original paper
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Abstract

Predicting net C balance under future global change scenarios requires a comprehensive understanding of how ecosystem photosynthesis (gross primary production; GPP) and respiration (Re) respond to elevated atmospheric [CO2] and altered water availability. We measured net ecosystem exchange of CO2 (NEE), GPP and Re under ambient and elevated [CO2] in a northern mixed-grass prairie (Wyoming, USA) during dry intervals and in response to simulated precipitation pulse events. Elevated [CO2] resulted in higher rates of both GPP and Re across the 2006 growing season, and the balance of these two fluxes (NEE) accounted for cumulative growing season C uptake (−14.4 ± 8.3 g C m−2). Despite lower GPP and Re, experimental plots under ambient [CO2] had greater cumulative uptake (−36.2 ± 8.2 g C m−2) than plots under elevated [CO2]. Non-irrigated control plots received 50% of average precipitation during the drought of 2006, and had near-zero NEE (1.9 ± 6.4 g C m−2) for the growing season. Elevated [CO2] extended the magnitude and duration of pulse-related increases in GPP, resulting in a significant [CO2] treatment by pulse day interaction, demonstrating the potential for elevated [CO2] to increase the capacity of this ecosystem to respond to late-season precipitation. However, stimulation of Re throughout the growing season under elevated [CO2] reduced net C uptake compared to plots under ambient [CO2]. These results indicate that although elevated [CO2] stimulates gross rates of ecosystem C fluxes, it does not necessarily enhance net C uptake, and that C cycle responses in semi-arid grasslands are likely to be more sensitive to changes in precipitation than atmospheric [CO2].

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the US Department of Energy’s Office of Science (BER) through the Western Regional Center of the National Institute for Climatic Change Research at Northern Arizona University, and the US Department of Agriculture’s Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service (grant number 2008-35107-18655), with base support from USDA—Agricultural Research Service. We thank Jo Preston, Meghan Taylor, Dan LeCain, Jennifer Schomp, Peter Koenig, and David Smith for field and lab assistance, David Legg for help with statistical analyses, and Jessica Cable and Lachlan Ingram for useful comments. This experiment complied with the current laws of the USA and state of Wyoming.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, University of Wyoming, #3165, 1000 E. University Ave, Laramie, WY, 82071, USA

    Sarah Bachman, Elise Pendall, David G. Williams & Joanne Newcomb

  2. Program in Ecology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, 82071, USA

    Elise Pendall & David G. Williams

  3. Department of Renewable Resources, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, 82071, USA

    Jana L. Heisler-White & David G. Williams

  4. Rangeland Resources Research Unit, USDA-ARS, 1701 Centre Avenue, Fort Collins, CO, 80526, USA

    Jack A. Morgan

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  1. Sarah Bachman
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  2. Jana L. Heisler-White
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  5. Jack A. Morgan
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Correspondence to Elise Pendall.

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Communicated by Louis Pitelka.

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Bachman, S., Heisler-White, J.L., Pendall, E. et al. Elevated carbon dioxide alters impacts of precipitation pulses on ecosystem photosynthesis and respiration in a semi-arid grassland. Oecologia 162, 791–802 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-009-1511-x

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