Does a decade of elevated [CO2] affect a desert perennial plant community?

Understanding the effects of elevated [CO2 ] on plant community structure is crucial to predicting ecosystem responses to global change. Early predictions suggested that productivity in deserts would increase via enhanced water-use efficiency under elevated [CO2], but the response of intact arid plant communities to elevated [CO2 ] is largely unknown. We measured changes in perennial plant community characteristics (cover, species richness and diversity) after 10 yr of elevated [CO2] exposure in an intact Mojave Desert community at the Nevada Desert Free-Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE) Facility. Contrary to expectations, total cover, species richness, and diversity were not affected by elevated [CO2]. Over the course of the experiment, elevated [CO2] had no effect on changes in cover of the evergreen C3 shrub, Larrea tridentata; alleviated decreases in cover of the C4 bunchgrass, Pleuraphis rigida; and slightly reduced the cover of C3 drought-deciduous shrubs. Thus, we generally found no effect of elevated [CO2] on plant communities in this arid ecosystem. Extended drought, slow plant growth rates, and highly episodic germination and recruitment of new individuals explain the lack of strong perennial plant community shifts after a decade of elevated [CO2].

Newingham BA ，Vanier CH ，Kelly LJ ，Charlet TN ，Smith SD ... -  《-》

No cumulative effect of 10 years of elevated [CO2 ] on perennial plant biomass components in the Mojave Desert.

Elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations ([CO2 ]) generally increase primary production of terrestrial ecosystems. Production responses to elevated [CO2 ] may be particularly large in deserts, but information on their long-term response is unknown. We evaluated the cumulative effects of elevated [CO2 ] on primary production at the Nevada Desert FACE (free-air carbon dioxide enrichment) Facility. Aboveground and belowground perennial plant biomass was harvested in an intact Mojave Desert ecosystem at the end of a 10-year elevated [CO2 ] experiment. We measured community standing biomass, biomass allocation, canopy cover, leaf area index (LAI), carbon and nitrogen content, and isotopic composition of plant tissues for five to eight dominant species. We provide the first long-term results of elevated [CO2 ] on biomass components of a desert ecosystem and offer information on understudied Mojave Desert species. In contrast to initial expectations, 10 years of elevated [CO2 ] had no significant effect on standing biomass, biomass allocation, canopy cover, and C : N ratios of above- and belowground components. However, elevated [CO2 ] increased short-term responses, including leaf water-use efficiency (WUE) as measured by carbon isotope discrimination and increased plot-level LAI. Standing biomass, biomass allocation, canopy cover, and C : N ratios of above- and belowground pools significantly differed among dominant species, but responses to elevated [CO2 ] did not vary among species, photosynthetic pathway (C3 vs. C4 ), or growth form (drought-deciduous shrub vs. evergreen shrub vs. grass). Thus, even though previous and current results occasionally show increased leaf-level photosynthetic rates, WUE, LAI, and plant growth under elevated [CO2 ] during the 10-year experiment, most responses were in wet years and did not lead to sustained increases in community biomass. We presume that the lack of sustained biomass responses to elevated [CO2 ] is explained by inter-annual differences in water availability. Therefore, the high frequency of low precipitation years may constrain cumulative biomass responses to elevated [CO2 ] in desert environments.

Newingham BA ，Vanier CH ，Charlet TN ，Ogle K ，Smith SD ，Nowak RS ... -  《GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY》

Maintenance of C sinks sustains enhanced C assimilation during long-term exposure to elevated [CO2] in Mojave Desert shrubs.

Aranjuelo I ，Ebbets AL ，Evans RD ，Tissue DT ，Nogués S ，van Gestel N ，Payton P ，Ebbert V ，Adams WW 3rd ，Nowak RS ，Smith SD ... -  《-》

Transitory effects of elevated atmospheric CO₂ on fine root dynamics in an arid ecosystem do not increase long-term soil carbon input from fine root litter.

Experimental increases in atmospheric CO₂ often increase root production over time, potentially increasing soil carbon (C) sequestration. Effects of elevated atmospheric CO₂ on fine root dynamics in a Mojave desert ecosystem were examined for the last 4.5 yr of a long-term (10-yr) free air CO₂ enrichment (FACE) study at the Nevada desert FACE facility (NDFF). Sets of minirhizotron tubes were installed at the beginning of the NDFF experiment to characterize rooting dynamics of the dominant shrub Larrea tridentata, the codominant shrub Ambrosia dumosa and the plant community as a whole. Although significant treatment effects occurred sporadically for some fine root measurements, differences were transitory and often in opposite directions during other time-periods. Nonetheless, earlier root growth under elevated CO₂ helped sustain increased assimilation and shoot growth. Overall CO₂ treatment effects on fine root standing crop, production, loss, turnover, persistence and depth distribution were not significant for all sampling locations. These results were similar to those that occurred near the beginning of the NDFF experiment but unlike those in other ecosystems. Thus, increased C input into soils is unlikely to occur from fine root litter under elevated atmospheric CO₂ in this arid ecosystem.

Ferguson SD ，Nowak RS 《-》

Alterations of nitrogen dynamics under elevated carbon dioxide in an intact Mojave Desert ecosystem: evidence from nitrogen-15 natural abundance.

Billings S ，Schaeffer S ，Zitzer S ，Charlet T ，Smith S ，Evans R ... -  《-》