Digging into the roots of belowground carbon cycling following seven years of Prairie Heating and CO2 Enrichment (PHACE), Wyoming USA

Nelson, Laura; Blumenthal, Dana M.; Williams, David G.; Pendall, Elise

doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2017.08.022

Cited by 12 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…The larger stimulation of total root length than biomass under elevated CO 2 alone and irrigation represents a more efficient strategy, with respect to plant C allocation, for increasing total root length. This is consistent with measurements of specific root length (SRL; root length per unit root mass) and root diameter from soil cores in 2010 and 2013, which showed that SRL was higher and diameter was lower in the irrigated treatments and elevated CO 2 treatments as compared to control plots (Carrillo et al., ; Nelson, Blumenthal, Williams, & Pendall, ), although only the CO 2 effects were significant.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

Root responses to elevated CO₂, warming and irrigation in a semi‐arid grassland: Integrating biomass, length and life span in a 5‐year field experiment

et al. 2018

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1. Plant roots mediate the impacts of environmental change on ecosystems, yet knowledge of root responses to environmental change is limited because few experiments evaluate multiple environmental factors and their interactions.Inferences about root functions are also limited because root length dynamics are rarely measured.2. Using a 5-year experiment in a mixed-grass prairie, we report the responses of root biomass, length and life span to elevated carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), warming, elevated CO 2 and warming combined, and irrigation. Root biomass was quantified using soil cores and root length dynamics were assessed using minirhizotrons. By comparing root dynamics with published results for soil resources and aboveground productivity, we provide mechanistic insights into how climate change might impact grassland ecosystems.3. In the upper soil layer, 0-15 cm depth, both irrigation and elevated CO 2 alone increased total root length by twofold, but irrigation decreased root biomass and elevated CO 2 had only small positive effects on root biomass. The large positive effects of irrigation and elevated CO 2 alone on total root length were due to increases in both root length production and root life span. The increased total root length and life span under irrigation and elevated CO 2 coincided with apparent shifts from water limitation of plant growth to nitrogen limitation. Warming alone had minimal effects on root biomass, length and life span in this shallow soil layer.Warming and elevated CO 2 combined increased root biomass and total root length by c. 25%, but total root length in this treatment was lower than expected if the effects of CO 2 and warming alone were additive. Treatment effects on total root length and root life span varied with soil depth and root diameter. Synthesis.Sub-additive effects of CO 2 and warming suggest studies of elevated CO 2 alone might overestimate the future capacity of grassland root systems to acquire resources. In this mixed-grass prairie, elevated CO 2 with warming stimulated total root length and root life span in deeper soils, likely enhancing plant access to more stable pools of growth-limiting resources, including water and phosphorus. Thus, these root responses help explain previous observations of | 2177Journal of Ecology MUELLER Et aL.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

Root responses to elevated CO₂, warming and irrigation in a semi‐arid grassland: Integrating biomass, length and life span in a 5‐year field experiment

et al. 2018

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“…Plants have a broad range of traits that vary in response to environmental cues [1,2], including atmospheric carbon. CO 2 -induced responses (i.e., guard cell regulation and stomatal conductance) have long been characterized [3,4], while subsurface responses, particularly those pertaining to roots, have become increasingly controversial [5][6][7][8]. Roots are conduits for carbon flux, as these extensive organs can modulate soil chemistry, structure, and microbes [9][10][11][12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enriched CO2 and Root-Associated Fungi (Mycorrhizae) Yield Inverse Effects on Plant Mass and Root Morphology in Six Asclepias Species

Malik¹,

Bever²

2021

Plants

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While milkweeds (Asclepias spp.) are important for sustaining biodiversity in marginal ecosystems, CO2 flux may afflict Asclepias species and cause detriment to native communities. Negative CO2-induced effects may be mitigated through mycorrhizal associations. In this study, we sought to determine how mycorrhizae interacts with CO2 to influence Asclepias biomass and root morphology. A broad range of Asclepias species (n = 6) were chosen for this study, including four tap-root species (A. sullivantii, A. syriaca, A. tuberosa, and A. viridis) and two fibrous root species (A. incarnata and A. verticillata). Collectively, the six Asclepias species were manipulated under a 2 × 2 full-factorial design that featured two mycorrhizal levels (−/+ mycorrhizae) and two CO2 levels (ambient and enriched (i.e., 3.5× ambient)). After a duration of 10 months, Asclepias responses were assessed as whole dry weight (i.e., biomass) and relative transportive root. Relative transportive root is the percent difference in the diameter of highest order root (transportive root) versus that of first-order absorptive roots. Results revealed an asymmetrical response, as mycorrhizae increased Asclepias biomass by ~12-fold, while enriched CO2 decreased biomass by about 25%. CO2 did not impact relative transportive roots, but mycorrhizae increased root organ’s response by more than 20%. Interactions with CO2 and mycorrhizae were observed for both biomass and root morphology (i.e., relative transportive root). A gene associated with CO2 fixation (rbcL) revealed that the two fibrous root species formed a phylogenetic clade that was distant from the four tap-root species. The effect of mycorrhizae was most profound in tap-root systems, as mycorrhizae modified the highest order root into tuber-like structures. A strong positive correlation was observed with biomass and relative transportive root. This study elucidates the interplay with roots, mycorrhizae, and CO2, while providing a potential pathway for mycorrhizae to ameliorate CO2 induced effects.

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“…Studies have shown that eCO 2 plus warming can reduce leaf N concentration of wheat [7,8]. Most past studies that have investigated the interactive effects of eCO 2 and warming on tissue N concentration of species other than wheat found a non-significant effect on root N concentration [9][10][11][12][13][14], but a trend towards decreasing shoot or leaf N concentration [9,[15][16][17]. However, there are reports that show that eCO 2 plus warming can either increase or decrease root N concentration [11,13,17], while effects on the shoot or leaf N concentration can be positive [8,10] or neutral [10,12,18,19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most past studies that have investigated the interactive effects of eCO 2 and warming on tissue N concentration of species other than wheat found a non-significant effect on root N concentration [9][10][11][12][13][14], but a trend towards decreasing shoot or leaf N concentration [9,[15][16][17]. However, there are reports that show that eCO 2 plus warming can either increase or decrease root N concentration [11,13,17], while effects on the shoot or leaf N concentration can be positive [8,10] or neutral [10,12,18,19]. Collectively, these studies indicate that the response of plant N concentration to eCO 2 plus warming can be variable, likely due in part to differences in experimental protocols and plant species.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Elevated Carbon Dioxide and Chronic Warming on Nitrogen (N)-Uptake Rate, -Assimilation, and -Concentration of Wheat

Jayawardena

Heckathorn

Boldt

2020

Plants

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The concentration of nitrogen (N) in vegetative tissues is largely dependent on the balance among growth, root N uptake, and N assimilation. Elevated CO2 (eCO2) plus warming is likely to affect the vegetative-tissue N and protein concentration of wheat by altering N metabolism, but this is poorly understood. To investigate this, spring wheat (Triticum aestivum) was grown for three weeks at two levels of CO2 (400 or 700 ppm) and two temperature regimes (26/21 or 31/26 °C, day/night). Plant dry mass, plant %N, protein concentrations, NO3− and NH4+ root uptake rates (using 15NO3 or 15NH4), and whole-plant N- and NO3--assimilation were measured. Plant growth, %N, protein concentration, and root N-uptake rate were each significantly affected only by CO2, while N- and NO3−-assimilation were significantly affected only by temperature. However, plants grown at eCO2 plus warming had the lowest concentrations of N and protein. These results suggest that one strategy breeding programs can implement to minimize the negative effects of eCO2 and warming on wheat tissue N would be to target the maintenance of root N uptake rate at eCO2 and N assimilation at higher growth temperatures.

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Digging into the roots of belowground carbon cycling following seven years of Prairie Heating and CO2 Enrichment (PHACE), Wyoming USA

Cited by 12 publications

References 52 publications

Root responses to elevated CO₂, warming and irrigation in a semi‐arid grassland: Integrating biomass, length and life span in a 5‐year field experiment

Root responses to elevated CO₂, warming and irrigation in a semi‐arid grassland: Integrating biomass, length and life span in a 5‐year field experiment

Enriched CO2 and Root-Associated Fungi (Mycorrhizae) Yield Inverse Effects on Plant Mass and Root Morphology in Six Asclepias Species

Effects of Elevated Carbon Dioxide and Chronic Warming on Nitrogen (N)-Uptake Rate, -Assimilation, and -Concentration of Wheat

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Digging into the roots of belowground carbon cycling following seven years of Prairie Heating and CO2 Enrichment (PHACE), Wyoming USA

Cited by 12 publications

References 52 publications

Root responses to elevated CO2, warming and irrigation in a semi‐arid grassland: Integrating biomass, length and life span in a 5‐year field experiment

Root responses to elevated CO2, warming and irrigation in a semi‐arid grassland: Integrating biomass, length and life span in a 5‐year field experiment

Enriched CO2 and Root-Associated Fungi (Mycorrhizae) Yield Inverse Effects on Plant Mass and Root Morphology in Six Asclepias Species

Effects of Elevated Carbon Dioxide and Chronic Warming on Nitrogen (N)-Uptake Rate, -Assimilation, and -Concentration of Wheat

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Root responses to elevated CO₂, warming and irrigation in a semi‐arid grassland: Integrating biomass, length and life span in a 5‐year field experiment

Root responses to elevated CO₂, warming and irrigation in a semi‐arid grassland: Integrating biomass, length and life span in a 5‐year field experiment