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Post‐fire resprouting responses of native and exotic grasses from Cumberland Plain Woodland (Sydney, Australia) under elevated carbon dioxide
Author(s) -
TOOTH IFEANNA M.,
LEISHMAN MICHELLE R.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
austral ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.688
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1442-9993
pISSN - 1442-9985
DOI - 10.1111/j.1442-9993.2012.02364.x
Subject(s) - chloris gayana , perennial plant , woodland , biomass (ecology) , biology , agronomy , grassland , introduced species , plant community , ecology , eragrostis , botany , species richness , dry matter
This study investigated the effect of elevated CO 2 on the post‐fire resprouting response of a grassland system of perennial grass species of Cumberland Plain Woodland. Plants were grown in mixtures in natural soil in mesocosms, each containing three exotic grasses ( Nassella neesiana , Chloris gayana , Eragrostis curvula ) and three native grasses ( Themeda australis , Microlaena stipoides , Chloris ventricosa ) under elevated (700 ppm) and ambient (385 ppm) CO 2 conditions. Resprouting response after fire at the community‐ and species‐level was assessed. There was no difference in community‐level biomass between CO 2 treatments; however, exotic species made up a larger proportion of the community biomass under all treatments. There were species‐level responses to elevated CO 2 but no significant interactions found between CO 2 and burning or plant status. Two exotic grasses ( N. neesiana and E. curvula , a C 3 and a C 4 species respectively), and one native grass ( M. stipoides , a C 3 species) significantly increased in biomass, and a native C 4 grass ( C. ventricosa ) significantly decreased in biomass under elevated CO 2 . These results suggest that although overall productivity of this community may not change with increases in CO 2 and fire frequency, the community composition may alter due to differential species responses.