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Title: Dominant plant taxa predict plant productivity responses to CO2 enrichment across precipitation and soil gradients

Journal Article · · AoB Plants
 [1];  [2];  [1];  [3];  [3];  [4];  [5]
  1. USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Temple, TX (United States). Grassland, Soil, and Water Lab.
  2. Univ. of Idaho, Moscow, ID (United States). College of Natural Resources; USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Reno, NV (United States). Great Basin Rangelands Research
  3. USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Fort Collins, CO (United States). Rangeland Resources Research Unit
  4. Univ. of Nevada, Reno, NV (United States). Dept. of Natural Resources and Environmental Science
  5. Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV (United States). School of Life Sciences
+ Show Author Affiliations

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.

Research Organization:
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 Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); National Science Foundation (NSF); US Dept. of Agriculture (USDA). Agricultural Research Service (ARS)
Contributing Organization:
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)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0006973; FG02-03ER63651; DEB-0212812; IBN-9524068; DEB-9708596; DEB-9350273; 1021559
OSTI ID:
1348370
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1454915
Journal Information:
AoB Plants, Vol. 7; ISSN 2041-2851
Publisher:
Oxford University Press; Annals of Botany CompanyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 15 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (7)

Variability in precipitation seasonality limits grassland biomass responses to rising CO2: historical and projected climate analyses journal June 2018
Globally consistent influences of seasonal precipitation limit grassland biomass response to elevated CO2 journal February 2019
Bacterial community response to a preindustrial-to-future CO 2 gradient is limited and soil specific in Texas Prairie grassland journal October 2018
CO 2 enrichment and soil type additively regulate grassland productivity journal November 2018
Elevated CO2 can modify the response to a water status gradient in a steppe grass: from cell organelles to photosynthetic capacity to plant growth journal July 2016
Future productivity and phenology changes in European grasslands for different warming levels: implications for grassland management and carbon balance journal May 2017
Globally consistent influences of seasonal precipitation limit grassland biomass response to elevated CO2 text January 2019

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Related Subjects

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES
Central Plains grasslands
climate change
community change
Mojave Desert
primary productivity
rangelands
threshold responses