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Forest productivity under elevated CO 2 and O 3 : positive feedbacks to soil N cycling sustain decade‐long net primary productivity enhancement by CO 2
Author(s) -
Zak Donald R.,
Pregitzer Kurt S.,
Kubiske Mark E.,
Burton Andrew J.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
ecology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.852
H-Index - 265
eISSN - 1461-0248
pISSN - 1461-023X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2011.01692.x
Subject(s) - biogeochemical cycle , primary production , cycling , environmental science , productivity , ecology , ecosystem , plant litter , litter , climate change , carbon cycle , global warming , atmospheric sciences , biology , forestry , geography , geology , macroeconomics , economics
Ecology Letters (2011) 14 : 1220–1226 Abstract The accumulation of anthropogenic CO 2 in the Earth’s atmosphere, and hence the rate of climate warming, is sensitive to stimulation of plant growth by higher concentrations of atmospheric CO 2 . Here, we synthesise data from a field experiment in which three developing northern forest communities have been exposed to factorial combinations of elevated CO 2 and O 3 . Enhanced net primary productivity (NPP) ( c. 26% increase) under elevated CO 2 was sustained by greater root exploration of soil for growth‐limiting N, as well as more rapid rates of litter decomposition and microbial N release during decay. Despite initial declines in forest productivity under elevated O 3 , compensatory growth of O 3 ‐tolerant individuals resulted in equivalent NPP under ambient and elevated O 3 . After a decade, NPP has remained enhanced under elevated CO 2 and has recovered under elevated O 3 by mechanisms that remain un‐calibrated or not considered in coupled climate–biogeochemical models simulating interactions between the global C cycle and climate warming.