Carbon Dioxide, Populations, and Communities (eBook)

Front Cover 1
Carbon, Dioxide, Populations, and Communities 4
Copyright Page 5
Contents 6
Contributors 14
Preface 20
Part I: Population-Level Responses 22
Chapter 1. Physiological Sensitivity and Evolutionary Responses to Climate Change 24
I. Introduction 24
II. The Genetic Bases for Evolutionary Responses to Climate Change 25
III. Thermal Sensitivity and Evolutionary Responses to Climate Change 28
IV. Summary 32
References 33
Chapter 2. Intraspecific Variation in CO2 Responses in Raphanus raphanistrum and Plantago lanceolata. Assessing the Potential for Evolutionary Change with Rising Atmospheric CO2 34
I. Introduction 34
II. Experimental Methods 36
III. Results and Discussion 38
IV. Conclusions 41
References 42
Chapter 3. Selective Responses to Global Change: Experimental Results 44
References 51
Chapter 4. Genetic Variation in the Response of Plant Populations to Elevated CO2 in a Nutrient-Poor, Calcareous Grassland 52
I. Plant Responses to Environmental Change: Theory and Review of Previous Work 52
II. An Experiment to Test Genotypic Responses to Increased CO2 59
III. Results from the Experiment and Discussion 60
IV. Outlook 68
V. Summary 69
References 70
Chapter 5. Genetic Variability and the Nature of Microevolutionary Responses to Elevated CO2 72
I. Introduction 72
II. Genetic Variability in CO 2 Responses 75
III. Effects of Elevated CO2 on the Selection Process 82
IV. What Characters Will Be Selected? 89
V. Possible Effects of Evolutionary Changes on Ecosystem Processes 94
VI. Summary 95
References 96
Part II: Commtmity-Level Responses 104
Chapter 6. The Changing Vegetation of Europe: What Is the Role of Elevated Carbon Dioxide? 106
I. Introduction 106
II. Current Vegetation Changes in Western Europe 107
III. Plant Functional Types and Response to Elevated CO2 109
IV. Feedbacks 110
V. Summary 112
References 112
Chapter 7. Changing Community Composition and Elevated CO2 114
I. Introduction 114
II. Methods 115
III. Results 117
IV. Discussion 118
V. Summary 119
References 120
Chapter 8. Predicting Responses of Tropical Plant Communities to Elevated CO2: Lessons from Experiments with Model Ecosystems 122
I. Introduction 122
II. Responses at the Level of the Individual 123
III. Responses at the Level of the Plant Community 124
IV. Conclusions and Recommendations 139
References 140
Chapter 9. Responses to Elevated CO2 in Mediterranean Old-Field Microcosms. Species, Community, and Ecosystem Components 144
I. Introduction 144
II. The Experimental Designs 145
III. Species Responses within Community 147
IV. Ecosystem Responses 148
V. Discussion and Conclusion 152
References 157
Chapter 10. Annual Grassland Responses to Elevated CO2 in Long-Term Community Microcosms 160
I. Introduction 160
II. The Jasper Ridge CO2 Experiment 161
III. Methods 163
IV. Analysis 165
V. Results 166
VI. Discussion 172
References 176
Chapter 11. Effects of Elevated CO2 on Plant Species Dominance in a Highly Diverse Calcareous Grassland 180
I. Introduction 180
II. Design of CO2 and Plant Diversity Treatments in Calcareous Grassland Communities 181
III. Response of Calcareous Grassland Communities to Manipulations of CO2 and Plant Diversity 185
IV. Discussion 187
V. Summary 194
References 195
Chapter 12. Are Some of the Recent Changes in Grassland Communities a Response to Rising CO2 Concentrations? 198
I. Introduction 198
II. CO2 and Vegetation Change 202
III. Conclusions 209
IV. Summary 210
References 211
Chapter 13. Effects of Enhanced UV-B Radiation and Elevated Concentrations of CO2 on a Subarctic Heathland 218
I. Introduction 218
II. Site Description and Methodology 219
III. The Response of Primary Producers 221
IV. Other Trophic Levels 224
V. Conclusions 225
References 226
Chapter 14. Carbon Metabolism and Plant Growth under Elevated CO2 in a Natural Quercus ilex L. "Macchia" Stand 230
I. Introduction 230
II. Experimental Setup and Methods 232
III. Results 237
IV. Discussion 242
V. Summary 247
References 248
Chapter 15. Modification of Fire Disturbance by Elevated CO2 252
I. Introduction 252
II. The Role of Fire in Plant Communities 253
III. CO2 Effects on Vegetation and Fire 256
IV. Predicting High CO2 Effects on Future Fire Cycles 262
V. Research Priorities 264
VI. Summary 265
References 266
Part III: Organismic Interactions 272
Chapter 16. Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixation. One Key to Understand the Response of Temperate Grassland-Ecosystems to Elevated CO2? 274
I. Introduction 274
II. The Symbiotic N2 Fixation A Highly Flexible Way to Assimilate Nitrogen 275
III. The Link between Plant Growth, Nitrogen Assimilation, and N 2 Fixation 276
IV. The Link between Elevated CO2 and N Availability in the Soil 276
V. The Response of Symbiotic N 2 Fixation to Elevated CO2 in the Field. A Response to Both Increased Legume N Demand and Increased Strength of the Ecosystem N Sink? 279
VI. Model and Conclusion 280
VII. Summary 281
References 282
Chapter 17. Plant-Fungal Interactions in a CO2-Rich World 286
I. Introduction 286
II. Responses of Symbiotic Fungi to a CO2-Enriched Environment 287
III. Community and Ecosystem Level Consequences 289
IV. Summary 292
References 293
Chapter 18. Effects of Elevated CO2 on Plants Grown in Competition 294
I. Introduction 294
II. Survey of Differential Species Responses within Species Mixtures Exposed to Elevated CO2 296
III. Conclusions 303
References 305
Chapter 19. Differences between Legumes and Nonlegumes of Permanent Grassland in Their Responses to Free-Air Carbon Dioxide Enrichment: Its Effect on Competition in a Multispecies Mixture 308
I. Introduction 308
II. Materials and Methods 309
III. Results and Discussion 310
IV. Summary 318
References 319
Chapter 20. Competition between Grasses and Trifolium repens with Elevated Atmospheric CO2 322
I. Introduction 322
II. Theory 322
III. An Experimental Test 324
IV. Temperature, Phenology, and Competition 332
V. Species Competitive Abilities 334
VI. Competition and Internal Plant Nutrient Status 335
VII. Longer Term Implications 335
VIII. Summary 336
References 337
Chapter 21. Impact of Elevated CO2 Concentration on Interactions between Seedlings of Norway Spruce (Picea abies) and Perennial Grass Calamagrostis epigejos 340
I. Introduction 340
II. Shade Tolerance of Spruce Seedlings and Some Co-occurring Grasses at Ambient and Elevated CO2 Concentration in Air 341
III. Interaction between Spruce Seedlings and Calamagrostis epigejos at Ambient and Elevated CO2 348
IV. Conclusions 350
References 351
Chapter 22. The Effect of Elevated CO2 on Developmental Processes and Its Implications for Plant-Plant Interactions 354
I. Introduction 354
II. Developmental Patterns and Competitive Ability 355
III. Predicting the Effect of Elevated CO2 on Development 357
IV. Effect of Developmental Patterns on CO2 Responsiveness 362
V. Summary 365
References 366
Chapter 23. Consequences of Elevated Atmospheric CO2 for Forest Insects 368
I. Introduction 368
II. Direct Effects of CO2 370
III. Interactive Effects: CO2 and Resource Availability 374
IV. Indirect Effects: CO2 and Climate 375
V. Tritrophic Interactions 376
VI. Predicting Insect Outbreaks: The Functional Attribute Approach 377
VII. Conclusions and Recommendations 378
References 380
Chapter 24. Effects of Elevated Carbon Dioxide on Forage Quality for Ruminants 384
I. Introduction 384
II. Ruminant Digestion 385
III. Impact of Elevated CO2 on Forage Quality 387
IV. Impact of Elevated CO2 on Cattle Production in Tallgrass Prairie 388
V. Conclusions 390
References 391
Part IV: Theory, Modeling, Concepts 394
Chapter 25. Interspecific Variation in the Growth Response of Plants to Elevated CO2: A Search for Functional Types 396
I. The Need for Functional Types 396
II. Methodological Aspects 397
III. Interspecific Variation 401
IV. Differences between Species at Low N Levels 410
V. Ecological Aspects 411
VI. Summary 412
References 427
Chapter 26. CO2 Elevation and Canopy Development in Stands of Herbaceous Plants 434
I. Introduction 434
II. Light Interception in Mixed Species Stands 435
III. Effect of CO2 Elevation on the Canopy Development in Two Annuals 439
IV. Nitrogen Allocation and Optimal Leaf Area Index under Elevated CO2 441
V. Summary and Conclusion 447
References 449
Chapter 27. Problems in Predicting the Ecological Effects of Elevated C02 452
I. Introduction 452
II. Extrapolation 453
III. Reductionism from Below 455
IV. Two Approaches to Research on Elevated CO2 457
V. Prediction and Uncertainty 460
References 461
Chapter 28. The Significance of Biological Variation, Organism Interactions, and Life Histories in CO2 Research 464
I. Introduction 464
II. Why Study Variance? 465
III. Genotypic Responses in Populations 466
IV. Responses of Plant Communities 467
V. Plant-Plant Interactions 470
VI. Plant-Microbe Interactions 472
VII. Plant-Animal Interactions 472
VIII. Theory, Modeling, Concepts 473
IX. Ecosystem and Global Consequences 474
References 476
Index 478