Root growth and function of three Mojave Desert grasses in response to elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration

Abstract

Root growth and physiological responses to elevated CO 2 were investigated for three important Mojave Desert grasses: the C 3 perennial Achnatherum hymenoides , the C 4 perennial Pleuraphis rigida and the C 3 annual Bromus madritensis ssp. rubens . Seeds of each species were grown at ambient (360 μl l −1 ) or elevated (1000 μl l −1 ) CO 2 in a glasshouse and harvested at three phenological stages: vegetative, anthesis and seed fill. Because P. rigida did not flower during the course of this study, harvests for this species represent three vegetative stages. Primary productivity was increased in both C 3 grasses in response to elevated CO 2 (40 and 19% for A. hymenoides and B. rubens , respectively), but root biomass increased only in the C 3 perennial grass. Neither above-ground nor below-ground biomass of the C 4 perennial grass was significantly affected by the CO 2 treatment. Elevated CO 2 did not significantly affect root surface area for any species. Total plant nitrogen was also not statistically different between CO 2 treatments for any species, indicating no enhanced uptake of N under elevated CO 2 . Physiological uptake capacities for NO 3 and NH 4 were not affected by the CO 2 treatment during the second harvest; measurements were not made for the first harvest. However, at the third harvest uptake capacity was significantly decreased in response to elevated CO 2 for at least one N form in each species. NO 3 uptake rates were lower in A. hymenoides and P. rigida , and NH 4 uptake rates were lower in B. rubens at elevated CO 2 . Nitrogen uptake on a whole root-system basis (NO 3 +NH 4 uptake capacity × root biomass) was influenced positively by elevated CO 2 only for A. hymenoides after anthesis. These results suggest that elevated CO 2 may result in a competitive advantage for A. hymenoides relative to species that do not increase root-system N uptake capacity. Root respiration measurements normalized to 20 °C were not significantly affected by the CO 2 treatment. However, specific root respiration was significantly correlated with either root C∶N ratio or root water content when all data per species were included within a simple regression model. The results of this study provide little evidence for up-regulation of root physiology in response to elevated CO 2 and indicate that root biomass responses to CO 2 are species-specific.