No abstract

We examined the interactive effects of elevated CO2 concentration ([CO2]) and water stress on growth and physiology of 1-year-old peach (Prunus persica L.) seedlings grown in 10-dm3 pots in open-top chambers with ambient (350 micromol mol-1) or elevated (700 micromol mol-1) [CO2]. Seedlings were supplied weekly with a non-limiting nutrient solution. Water was withheld from half of the plants in each treatment for a 4-week drying cycle, to simulate a sudden and severe water stress during the phase of rapid plant growth. Throughout the growing season, seedlings in elevated [CO2] had higher assimilation rates, measured at the growth [CO2], than seedlings in ambient [CO2], and this caused an increase in total dry mass of about 33%. Stomatal conductance, total water uptake, leaf area and leaf number were unaffected by elevated [CO2]. Because seedlings in the two CO2 treatments had similar transpiration despite large differences in total dry mass, water-use efficiency (WUE) of well-watered and water-stressed seedlings grown in elevated [CO2] was an average of 51 and 63% higher, respectively, than WUE of comparable seedlings grown in ambient [CO2]. Elevated [CO2] enhanced total biomass of water-stressed seedlings by 31%, and thus ameliorated the effects of water limitation. However, the percentage increases in total dry mass between well-watered and water-stressed seedlings were similar in ambient (53%) and elevated (58%) [CO2], demonstrating that there was no interaction between elevated [CO2] and water stress. This finding should be considered when predicting responses of trees to global climate change in hot and dry environments, where predicted temperature increases will raise evaporative demands and exacerbate the effects of drought on tree growth.

Carbon assimilation by Cedrela odorata L. (Meliaceae) seedlings was investigated in ambient and elevated CO2 concentrations ([CO2]) for 119 days, using small fumigation chambers. A solution containing macro- and micronutrients was supplied at two rates. The 5% rate (high rate) was designed to avoid nutrient limitation and allow a maximum rate of growth. The 1% rate (low rate) allowed examination of the effect of the nutrient limitation-elevated CO2 interaction on carbon assimilation. Root growth was stimulated by 23% in elevated [CO2] at a high rate of nutrient supply, but this did not lead to a change in the root:shoot ratio. Total biomass did not change at either rate of nutrient supply, despite an increase in relative growth rate at the low nutrient supply rate. Net assimilation rates and relative growth rates were stimulated by the high rate of nutrient addition, irrespective of [CO2]. We used a biochemical model of photosynthesis to investigate assimilation at the leaf level. Maximum rate of electron transport (Jmax) and maximum velocity of carboxylation (Vcmax) did not differ significantly with CO2 treatment, but showed a substantial reduction at the low rate of nutrient supply. Across both CO2 treatments, mean Jmax for seedlings grown at a high rate of nutrient supply was 75 micromol m(-2) s(-1) and mean Vcmax was 27 micromol m(-2) s(-1). The corresponding mean values for seedlings grown at a low rate of nutrient supply were 36 micromol m(-2) s(-1) and 15 micromol m(-2) s(-1), respectively. Concentrations of leaf nitrogen, on a mass basis, were significantly decreased by the low nutrient supply rate, in proportion to the observed decrease in photosynthetic parameters. Chlorophyll and carbohydrate concentrations of leaves were unaffected by growth [CO2]. Because there was no net increase in growth in response to elevated [CO2], despite increased assimilation of carbon at the leaf level, we hypothesize that the rate of respiration of non-photosynthetic organs was increased.

A model was developed that simulated photosynthesis, growth and allocation in tree seedlings. The model was parameterized with data from experiments on seedlings of sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus L.), Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis (Bong) Carr.) and young birch trees (Betula pendula Roth.). In these experiments, CO2 concentration ([CO2]) and nutrient addition rate were varied. Parameters quantifying nutrient uptake, translocation and starch synthesis were fitted, based on data from control treatments. Elevated [CO2] and low-nutrient treatments were then used to test the predicted response of growth and allocation against observations. The model accurately predicted total seedling growth in the elevated [CO2] treatments. A response of growth to elevated [CO2] was seen in the birch and sycamore experiments, but not in the Sitka spruce, because of photosynthetic down-regulation. Predictions of allocation were reasonably accurate in the birch and Sitka spruce experiments, but were notably poorer in the sycamore experiments, possibly because of differences in sink strength between root and shoot. In the birch and sycamore experiments, little change in allocation with elevated [CO2] was observed or predicted. This was ascribed to the relative values of K(Tc) and K(Tn), the translocation coefficients that determine the sensitivity of allocation to carbon and nitrogen uptake rates, respectively. Growth and allocation in the low-nutrient treatments were poorly predicted by the model. In Sitka spruce, it was suspected that the photosynthetic parameters measured in August 1994 had been higher earlier in the season, before nutrients became depleted. In sycamore, the discrepancies were thought to relate to differences in sink strength between root and shoot that could not be described by the model.