No growth stimulation of tropical trees by 150 years of CO2 fertilization but water-use efficiency increased

Sleen, Peter van der; Groenendijk, Peter; Vlam, Mart; Anten, Niels P. R.; Boom, Arnoud; Bongers, Frans; Pons, Thijs L.; Terburg, Gideon; Zuidema, Pieter A.

doi:10.1038/ngeo2313

Cited by 382 publications

(327 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…With additional CO 2 in the atmosphere, more CO 2 diffuses into leaves, whereas approximately the same amount of water escapes. This increase in water use efficiency at the leaf level has been well documented in experiments (7,8) and observed in biomes around the world (9,10). However, fossil CO 2 is not the only factor altering water relations in plant communities.…”

mentioning

confidence: 88%

Decreased water limitation under elevated CO ₂ amplifies potential for forest carbon sinks

Farrior

Rodrı́guez-Iturbe²,

Dybzinski

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Increasing atmospheric CO 2 concentrations and changing rainfall regimes are creating novel environments for plant communities around the world. The resulting changes in plant productivity and allocation among tissues will have significant impacts on forest carbon storage and the global carbon cycle, yet these effects may depend on mechanisms not included in global models. Here we focus on the role of individual-level competition for water and light in forest carbon allocation and storage across rainfall regimes. We find that the complexity of plant responses to rainfall regimes in experiments can be explained by individual-based competition for water and light within a continuously varying soil moisture environment. Further, we find that elevated CO 2 leads to large amplifications of carbon storage when it alleviates competition for water by incentivizing competitive plants to divert carbon from short-lived fine roots to long-lived woody biomass. Overall, we find that plant dependence on rainfall regimes and plant responses to added CO 2 are complex, but understandable. The insights developed here will serve as an important foundation as we work to predict the responses of plants to the full, multidimensional reality of climate change, which involves not only changes in rainfall and CO 2 but also changes in temperature, nutrient availability, and disturbance rates, among others.rainfall | forest dynamics | plant allocation | carbon storage | evolutionarily stable strategy T he fate of the terrestrial carbon sink hinges on the role of limitation by other resources (1, 2). If additional atmospheric CO 2 causes forests to run up against limitation by other resources, it is possible that a forest carbon sink caused by CO 2 fertilization could diminish or reverse. The fate of this service by plants, currently estimated to mitigate 30% of anthropogenic emissions per year (3), is one of the most uncertain components of global climate predictions (4). Despite this importance, however, the role of resource limitation in carbon sinks is poorly understood and poorly incorporated into global models (1, 2, 5, 6).Here we investigate the effect of water limitation of photosynthesis on forest carbon storage and sinks. With additional CO 2 in the atmosphere, more CO 2 diffuses into leaves, whereas approximately the same amount of water escapes. This increase in water use efficiency at the leaf level has been well documented in experiments (7, 8) and observed in biomes around the world (9, 10). However, fossil CO 2 is not the only factor altering water relations in plant communities. Rising temperatures (11), changing rainfall regimes (12), and nitrogen deposition (13) can also have effects on plant water balance. A complete understanding of forest carbon storage and carbon sinks thus requires understanding a truly complex system.To build the mechanistic models we need to predict forest carbon storage in novel circumstances, we favor bringing together model components whose behavior we can understand and test with controlled exp...

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mentioning

confidence: 88%

Decreased water limitation under elevated CO ₂ amplifies potential for forest carbon sinks

Farrior

Rodrı́guez-Iturbe²,

Dybzinski

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…For tropical trees, data from van der Sleen et al (2015) for 27 cm-diameter trees (canopy) were emphasised rather than 8 cm-diameter tree data (understory), because isotopes in closed canopy forest understory can depend on factors such as light intensity, humidity gradients,…”

Section: Carbon Isotope Discrimination In C3 Land Plants Is Independementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ultimately four datasets are considered: modern leaves (1970through 2007Kohn, 2010), tropical rainforest tree rings (least susceptible to changes in MAP; Fig. 2a; van der Sleen et al, 2015), sediment organic matter (SOM) from three representative studies of the Pleistocene-Holocene transition (Fig. 2b,c;Hatté et al, 1998;Sinninghe Damsté et al, 2011;Barker et al, 2013), and herbivore collagen and tooth enamel for especially low-p CO2 (<250 ppmv) and high-p CO2 (>500 ppmv) periods of the geologic past ( Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Carbon isotope discrimination in C3 land plants is independent of natural variations in pCO2

Kohn¹

2016

Geochem. Persp. Let.

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doi: 10.7185/geochemlet.1604The d 13 C of terrestrial C3 plant tissues and soil organic matter is important for understanding the carbon cycle, inferring past climatic and ecological conditions, and predicting responses of vegetation to future climate change. Plant d 13 C depends on the d 13 C of atmospheric CO 2 and mean annual precipitation (MAP), but an unresolved decades-long debate centres on whether terrestrial C3 plant d 13 C responds to p CO2 . In this study, the p CO2 -dependence of C3 land plant d 13 C was tested using isotopic records from low-and high-p CO2 times spanning historical through Eocene data. Historical data do not resolve a clear p CO2 -effect (-1.2 ± 1.0 to 0.6 ± 1.0 ‰/100 ppmv). Organic carbon records across the Pleistocene-Holocene transition are too affected by changes in MAP, carbon sources, and potential differential degradation to quantify p CO2 -effects directly, but limits of ≤1.0 ‰/100 ppmv or ~0 ‰/100 ppmv are permissible. Fossil collagen and tooth enamel data constrain p CO2 -effects most tightly to -0.03 ± 0.13 and -0.03 ± 0.24 ‰/100 ppmv between 200 and 700 ppmv. Combining all constraints yields a preferred value of 0.0 ± 0.3 ‰/100 ppmv (2 s.e.). Recent models of p CO2 -dependence imply unrealistic MAP for Cenozoic records.

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“…The strength of this effect and its impacts on climate are highly uncertain and have been studied both through observations and models (Keenan et al, 2013;Van Der Sleen et al, 2014;Mengis et al, 2015). To test how strongly this affects simulations of future climate, the amount of transpiration for all plant functional types was scaled after Mengis et al (2015).…”

Section: Co 2 Sensitivity Of Transpirationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Systematic Correlation Matrix Evaluation (SCoMaE) – a bottom–up, science-led approach to identifying indicators

2018

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Abstract. This study introduces the Systematic Correlation Matrix Evaluation (SCoMaE) method, a bottom-up approach which combines expert judgment and statistical information to systematically select transparent, nonredundant indicators for a comprehensive assessment of the state of the Earth system. The methods consists of two basic steps: (1) the calculation of a correlation matrix among variables relevant for a given research question and (2) the systematic evaluation of the matrix, to identify clusters of variables with similar behavior and respective mutually independent indicators. Optional further analysis steps include (3) the interpretation of the identified clusters, enabling a learning effect from the selection of indicators, (4) testing the robustness of identified clusters with respect to changes in forcing or boundary conditions, (5) enabling a comparative assessment of varying scenarios by constructing and evaluating a common correlation matrix, and (6) the inclusion of expert judgment, for example, to prescribe indicators, to allow for considerations other than statistical consistency. The example application of the SCoMaE method to Earth system model output forced by different CO 2 emission scenarios reveals the necessity of reevaluating indicators identified in a historical scenario simulation for an accurate assessment of an intermediate-high, as well as a business-as-usual, climate change scenario simulation. This necessity arises from changes in prevailing correlations in the Earth system under varying climate forcing. For a comparative assessment of the three climate change scenarios, we construct and evaluate a common correlation matrix, in which we identify robust correlations between variables across the three considered scenarios.

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No growth stimulation of tropical trees by 150 years of CO2 fertilization but water-use efficiency increased

Cited by 382 publications

References 30 publications

Decreased water limitation under elevated CO ₂ amplifies potential for forest carbon sinks

Decreased water limitation under elevated CO ₂ amplifies potential for forest carbon sinks

Carbon isotope discrimination in C3 land plants is independent of natural variations in pCO2

Systematic Correlation Matrix Evaluation (SCoMaE) – a bottom–up, science-led approach to identifying indicators

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No growth stimulation of tropical trees by 150 years of CO2 fertilization but water-use efficiency increased

Cited by 382 publications

References 30 publications

Decreased water limitation under elevated CO 2 amplifies potential for forest carbon sinks

Decreased water limitation under elevated CO 2 amplifies potential for forest carbon sinks

Carbon isotope discrimination in C3 land plants is independent of natural variations in pCO2

Systematic Correlation Matrix Evaluation (SCoMaE) – a bottom–up, science-led approach to identifying indicators

Contact Info

Product

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Decreased water limitation under elevated CO ₂ amplifies potential for forest carbon sinks

Decreased water limitation under elevated CO ₂ amplifies potential for forest carbon sinks