Dominant plant taxa predict plant productivity responses to CO2 enrichment across precipitation and soil gradients
Abstract
The Earth's atmosphere will continue to be enriched with carbon dioxide (CO2) over the coming century. Carbon dioxide enrichment often reduces leaf transpiration, which in water-limited ecosystems may increase soil water content, change species abundances and increase the productivity of plant communities. The effect of increased soil water on community productivity and community change may be greater in ecosystems with lower precipitation, or on coarser-textured soils, but responses are likely absent in deserts. We tested correlations among yearly increases in soil water content, community change and community plant productivity responses to CO2 enrichment in experiments in a mesic grassland with fine- to coarse-textured soils, a semi-arid grassland and a xeric shrubland. We found no correlation between CO2-caused changes in soil water content and changes in biomass of dominant plant taxa or total community aboveground biomass in either grassland type or on any soil in the mesic grassland (P > 0.60). Instead, increases in dominant taxa biomass explained up to 85 % of the increases in total community biomass under CO2 enrichment. The effect of community change on community productivity was stronger in the semi-arid grassland than in the mesic grassland, where community biomass change on one soil was not correlatedmore »
- Authors:
-
- USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Temple, TX (United States). Grassland, Soil, and Water Lab.
- Univ. of Idaho, Moscow, ID (United States). College of Natural Resources; USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Reno, NV (United States). Great Basin Rangelands Research
- USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Fort Collins, CO (United States). Rangeland Resources Research Unit
- Univ. of Nevada, Reno, NV (United States). Dept. of Natural Resources and Environmental Science
- Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV (United States). School of Life Sciences
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV (United States); USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Temple, TX (United States); Univ. of Wyoming, Laramie, WY (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); National Science Foundation (NSF); US Dept. of Agriculture (USDA). Agricultural Research Service (ARS)
- Contributing Org.:
- Univ. of Idaho, Moscow, ID (United States); USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Reno, NV (United States); USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Fort Collins, CO (United States); Univ. of Nevada, Reno, NV (United States)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1348370
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1454915
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0006973; FG02-03ER63651; DEB-0212812; IBN-9524068; DEB-9708596; DEB-9350273; 1021559
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- AoB Plants
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 7; Journal ID: ISSN 2041-2851
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press; Annals of Botany Company
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES; Central Plains grasslands; climate change; community change; Mojave Desert; primary productivity; rangelands; threshold responses
Citation Formats
Fay, Philip A., Newingham, Beth A., Polley, H. Wayne, Morgan, Jack A., LeCain, Daniel R., Nowak, Robert S., and Smith, Stanley D. Dominant plant taxa predict plant productivity responses to CO2 enrichment across precipitation and soil gradients. United States: N. p., 2015.
Web. doi:10.1093/aobpla/plv027.
Fay, Philip A., Newingham, Beth A., Polley, H. Wayne, Morgan, Jack A., LeCain, Daniel R., Nowak, Robert S., & Smith, Stanley D. Dominant plant taxa predict plant productivity responses to CO2 enrichment across precipitation and soil gradients. United States. https://doi.org/10.1093/aobpla/plv027
Fay, Philip A., Newingham, Beth A., Polley, H. Wayne, Morgan, Jack A., LeCain, Daniel R., Nowak, Robert S., and Smith, Stanley D. Mon .
"Dominant plant taxa predict plant productivity responses to CO2 enrichment across precipitation and soil gradients". United States. https://doi.org/10.1093/aobpla/plv027. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1348370.
@article{osti_1348370,
title = {Dominant plant taxa predict plant productivity responses to CO2 enrichment across precipitation and soil gradients},
author = {Fay, Philip A. and Newingham, Beth A. and Polley, H. Wayne and Morgan, Jack A. and LeCain, Daniel R. and Nowak, Robert S. and Smith, Stanley D.},
abstractNote = {The Earth's atmosphere will continue to be enriched with carbon dioxide (CO2) over the coming century. Carbon dioxide enrichment often reduces leaf transpiration, which in water-limited ecosystems may increase soil water content, change species abundances and increase the productivity of plant communities. The effect of increased soil water on community productivity and community change may be greater in ecosystems with lower precipitation, or on coarser-textured soils, but responses are likely absent in deserts. We tested correlations among yearly increases in soil water content, community change and community plant productivity responses to CO2 enrichment in experiments in a mesic grassland with fine- to coarse-textured soils, a semi-arid grassland and a xeric shrubland. We found no correlation between CO2-caused changes in soil water content and changes in biomass of dominant plant taxa or total community aboveground biomass in either grassland type or on any soil in the mesic grassland (P > 0.60). Instead, increases in dominant taxa biomass explained up to 85 % of the increases in total community biomass under CO2 enrichment. The effect of community change on community productivity was stronger in the semi-arid grassland than in the mesic grassland, where community biomass change on one soil was not correlated with the change in either the soil water content or the dominant taxa. No sustained increases in soil water content or community productivity and no change in dominant plant taxa occurred in the xeric shrubland. Thus, community change was a crucial driver of community productivity responses to CO2 enrichment in the grasslands, but effects of soil water change on productivity were not evident in yearly responses to CO2 enrichment. Future research is necessary to isolate and clarify the mechanisms controlling the temporal and spatial variations in the linkages among soil water, community change and plant productivity responses to CO2 enrichment.},
doi = {10.1093/aobpla/plv027},
journal = {AoB Plants},
number = ,
volume = 7,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Mar 30 00:00:00 EDT 2015},
month = {Mon Mar 30 00:00:00 EDT 2015}
}
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Works referenced in this record:
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Increasing precipitation event size increases aboveground net primary productivity in a semi-arid grassland
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Seasonal not annual rainfall determines grassland biomass response to carbon dioxide
journal, May 2014
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Soil-mediated effects of subambient to increased carbon dioxide on grassland productivity
journal, June 2012
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Elevated CO 2 enhances water relations and productivity and affects gas exchange in C 3 and C 4 grasses of the Colorado shortgrass steppe.
journal, April 2001
- Morgan, Jack A.; Lecain, Daniel R.; Mosier, Arvin R.
- Global Change Biology, Vol. 7, Issue 4
Soil- and plant-water dynamics in a C3/C4 grassland exposed to a subambient to superambient CO2 gradient
journal, November 2002
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- Global Change Biology, Vol. 8, Issue 11
Photosynthetic responses of Mojave Desert shrubs to free air CO2 enrichment are greatest during wet years
journal, February 2003
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- Global Change Biology, Vol. 9, Issue 2
Dominant species maintain ecosystem function with non-random species loss
journal, June 2003
- Smith, Melinda D.; Knapp, Alan K.
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Leaf conductance decreased under free-air CO2 enrichment (FACE) for three perennials in the Nevada desert
journal, May 2001
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Differential sensitivities of grassland structural components to changes in precipitation mediate productivity response in a desert ecosystem
journal, March 2014
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journal, April 2013
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journal, June 2012
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Functional responses of plants to elevated atmospheric CO2- do photosynthetic and productivity data from FACE experiments support early predictions?
journal, May 2004
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- New Phytologist, Vol. 162, Issue 2
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journal, November 2004
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journal, June 2007
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journal, October 2013
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CO 2 ENHANCES PRODUCTIVITY, ALTERS SPECIES COMPOSITION, AND REDUCES DIGESTIBILITY OF SHORTGRASS STEPPE VEGETATION
journal, January 2004
- Morgan, Jack A.; Mosier, Arvin R.; Milchunas, Daniel G.
- Ecological Applications, Vol. 14, Issue 1
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journal, February 2005
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A framework for assessing ecosystem dynamics in response to chronic resource alterations induced by global change
journal, December 2009
- Smith, Melinda D.; Knapp, Alan K.; Collins, Scott L.
- Ecology, Vol. 90, Issue 12
Community shifts under climate change: Mechanisms at multiple scales
journal, July 2013
- Gornish, Elise S.; Tylianakis, Jason M.
- American Journal of Botany, Vol. 100, Issue 7
Works referencing / citing this record:
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Globally consistent influences of seasonal precipitation limit grassland biomass response to elevated CO2
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Elevated CO2 can modify the response to a water status gradient in a steppe grass: from cell organelles to photosynthetic capacity to plant growth
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