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Does leaf photosynthesis adapt to CO 2 ‐enriched environments? An experiment on plants originating from three natural CO 2 springs
Author(s) -
Onoda Yusuke,
Hirose Tadaki,
Hikosaka Kouki
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
new phytologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.742
H-Index - 244
eISSN - 1469-8137
pISSN - 0028-646X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2009.02786.x
Subject(s) - photosynthesis , water use efficiency , stomatal conductance , starch , biology , adaptation (eye) , botany , transpiration , local adaptation , population , agronomy , horticulture , food science , demography , neuroscience , sociology
Summary• Atmospheric CO 2 elevation may act as a selective agent, which consequently may alter plant traits in the future. We investigated the adaptation to high CO 2 using transplant experiments with plants originating from natural CO 2 springs and from respective control sites. • We tested three hypotheses for adaptation to high‐CO 2 conditions: a higher photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency (PNUE); a higher photosynthetic water use efficiency (WUE); and a higher capacity for carbohydrate transport from leaves. • Although elevated growth CO 2 enhanced both PNUE and WUE, there was no genotypic improvement in PNUE. However, some spring plants had a higher WUE, as a result of a significant reduction in stomatal conductance, and also a lower starch concentration. Higher natural variation (assessed by the coefficient of variation) within populations in WUE and starch concentration, compared with PNUE, might be responsible for the observed population differentiation. • These results support the concept that atmospheric CO 2 elevation can act as a selective agent on some plant traits in natural plant communities. Reduced stomatal conductance and reduced starch accumulation are highlighted for possible adaptation to high CO 2 .