Increasing CO[sub 2] from glacial to present concentrations alters nitrogen and water requirements of C[sub 3] plants
- USDA-ARS, Temple, TX (United States)
Nitrogen and water use efficiencies were measured for three C[sub 3] species, annual grasses Bromus tectorum (cheatgrass) and Triticum aestivum (wheat; two cultivars) and a woody perennial Prosopis glandulosa (mesquite), grown at daytime CO[sub 2] concentrations that spanned glacial to present atmospheric levels. Changes in nitrogen and water use efficiencies were used to investigate effects of increasing [CO[sub 2]] on the relative requirements of C[sub 3] plants for these resources. Whole-plant water use efficiency (WUE) increased at higher [CO[sub 2]] in all species and treatments (water availability, competition), but proportional changes in WUE were variable. Leaf intrinsic WUE, calculated from stable carbon isotopes in plants, increased by about the same fraction as [CO[sub 2]] in all species. Plant nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) rose at higher [CO[sub 2]] in only two of eight species and treatment combinations. The more consistent increase in WUE than NUE in these species at higher [CO[sub 2]] implies that in the past, plants were relatively more water-limited or required less nitrogen per unit of water than today. Plant response to rising [CO[sub 2]] therefore may have been less constrained by nitrogen availability in the past than it will be in the future.
- OSTI ID:
- 7265936
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-940894-; CODEN: BECLAG
- Journal Information:
- Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America; (United States), Vol. 75:2; Conference: Annual Ecological Society of America (ESA) meeting: science and public policy, Knoxville, TN (United States), 7-11 Aug 1994; ISSN 0012-9623
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
CARBON DIOXIDE
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
GRAMINEAE
BIOCHEMISTRY
WATER REQUIREMENTS
NITROGEN
WHEAT
CALVIN CYCLE SPECIES
CLIMATIC CHANGE
PALEOCLIMATOLOGY
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON OXIDES
CEREALS
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMISTRY
DEMAND
ELEMENTS
LILIOPSIDA
MAGNOLIOPHYTA
NONMETALS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PALEONTOLOGY
PLANTS
540210* - Environment
Terrestrial- Basic Studies- (1990-)
560300 - Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology