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The impact of nitrogen supply on the potential response of a noxious, invasive weed, Canada thistle ( Cirsium arvense ) to recent increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide
Author(s) -
Ziska Lewis H.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
physiologia plantarum
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.351
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1399-3054
pISSN - 0031-9317
DOI - 10.1034/j.1399-3054.2003.00163.x
Subject(s) - cirsium arvense , thistle , noxious weed , weed , carbon dioxide , nitrogen , photosynthesis , shoot , relative growth rate , agronomy , carbon dioxide in earth's atmosphere , biomass (ecology) , biology , botany , zoology , chemistry , growth rate , ecology , geometry , mathematics , organic chemistry
A recognized invasive weed, Canada thistle ( Cirsium arvense L. Scop.) was grown at ambient and pre‐ambient concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide [CO 2 ] (373 and 287 μmol mol −1 , respectively) at three levels of supplemental nitrogen (N) (3, 6 and 14.5 m M ) from seeding until flowering [77 days after sowing (DAS)]. The primary objective of the study was to determine if N supply limited the potential photosynthetic and growth response of this species to the increase in atmospheric [CO 2 ] which occurred during the 20th century (i.e. approximately 290 to 370 μmol mol −1 CO 2 ). Leaf photosynthesis increased both as a function of growth [CO 2 ] and N supply during the first 46 DAS. Although by 46 DAS photosynthetic acclimation was observed relative to a common measurement CO 2 concentration, there was no interaction with N supply. Both [CO 2 ] and N increased biomass, relative growth rates and leaf area whereas root : shoot ratio was increased by CO 2 and decreased by increasing N; however, N supply did not effect the relative response to [CO 2 ] for any measured vegetative parameter up to 77 DAS. Due to the relative stimulation of shoot biomass, total above‐ground N increased at elevated [CO 2 ] for all levels of supplemental N, but nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) did not differ as a function of [CO 2 ]. Overall, these data suggest that any potential response to increased atmospheric [CO 2 ] in recent decades for this noxious weedy species was probably not limited by nitrogen supply.