The response of plants to elevated CO2 : II. Competitive interactions among annual plants under varying light and nutrients

Abstract

Communities, consisting of six co-occurring, disturbed site annuals, were subjected to CO₂ unenriched (300 ppm) and to CO₂ enriched (450 and 600 ppm) atmospheres at different levels of light and nutrient availability. In general, total community production increased with CO₂ enrichment to 450 ppm, but a further increase in CO₂ to 600 ppm had little or no effect. The response of community production to CO₂ level was not affected by nutrient availability but was affected by light level.Of the six species, four display C₃ metabolism. The proportion of total community production contributed by these species increased as a result of CO₂ enrichment, and was dependent upon both light and nutrient availability. The relative success of some species, particularly in terms of reproduction (total seed biomass), was significantly altered by CO₂ concentration depending on the level of nutrients. There were not only changes in reproductive success (seed biomass) and shoot biomass but also changes in the proportion of biomass allocated to seed.These experiments demonstrate that CO₂ enrichment does affect annual plant communities both in terms of productivity and species composition and that the affect of CO₂ on such system may depend upon other resources such as light and nutrients.