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Ten years of free‐air CO 2 enrichment altered the mobilization of N from soil in Lolium perenne L. swards
Author(s) -
Schneider Manuel K.,
Lüscher Andreas,
Richter Michael,
Aeschlimann Urs,
Hartwig Ueli A.,
Blum Herbert,
Frossard Emmanuel,
Nösberger Josef
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
global change biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.146
H-Index - 255
eISSN - 1365-2486
pISSN - 1354-1013
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2486.2004.00803.x
Subject(s) - lolium perenne , perennial plant , fertilizer , lolium , agronomy , biomass (ecology) , zoology , chemistry , poaceae , biology
Effects of free‐air carbon dioxide enrichment (FACE, 60 Pa pCO 2 ) on plant growth as compared with ambient pCO 2 (36 Pa) were studied in swards of Lolium perenne L. (perennial ryegrass) at two levels of N fertilization (14 and 56 g m −2 a −1 ) from 1993 to 2002. The objectives were to determine how plant growth responded to the availability of C and N in the long term and how the supply of N to the plant from the two sources of N in the soil, soil organic matter (SOM) and mineral fertilizer, varied over time. In three field experiments, 15 N‐labelled fertilizer was used to distinguish the sources of available N. In 1993, harvestable biomass under elevated pCO 2 was 7% higher than under ambient pCO 2 . This relative pCO 2 response increased to 32% in 2002 at high N, but remained low at low N. Between 1993 and 2002, the proportions and amounts of N in harvestable biomass derived from SOM (excluding remobilized fertilizer) were, at high N, increasingly higher at elevated pCO 2 than at ambient pCO 2 . Two factorial experiments confirmed that at high N, but not at low N, a higher proportion of N in harvestable biomass was derived from soil (including remobilized fertilizer) following 7 and 9 years of elevated pCO 2 , when compared with ambient pCO 2 . It is suggested that N availability in the soil initially limited the pCO 2 response of harvestable biomass. At high N, the limitation of plant growth decreased over time as a result of the stimulated mobilization of N from soil, especially from SOM. Consequently, harvestable biomass increasingly responded to elevated pCO 2 . The underlying mechanisms which contributed to the increased mobilization of N from SOM under elevated pCO 2 are discussed. This study demonstrated that there are feedback mechanisms in the soil which are only revealed during long‐term field experiments. Such investigations are thus, a prerequisite for understanding the responses of ecosystems to elevated pCO 2 and N supply.