Species-specific morphological and physiological characteristics and progressive nitrogen limitation under elevated CO2 concentration

Woo Kyung Song, Si Yeon Byeon, Hoontaek Lee, Min Su Lee, Daun Ryu, Jun Won Kang, Sim Hee Han, Chang Young Oh, Hyun Seok Kim

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

Elevated atmospheric CO2 (eCO2) concentration initially enhances photosyn-thesis, growth and ecosystem productivity, but the excessive use of nitrogen due to the increased productivity causes uncertainty in long-term ecosystem responses. We exposed Korean red pine, Chinese ash, and Korean mountain ash to current atmospheric CO2 concentration (aCO2), 1.4 times higher CO2 concentration (eCO21.4), and 1.8 times higher CO2 concentration (eCO21.8) in an Open-Top Chamber (OTC) experiment for eight years (2010-2017) to inves-tigate the effect on the morphological and physiological properties of trees. We also assessed whether nitrogen limitation occurred with time by comparing leaf and soil nitrogen concentration. CO2 fertilization effect was observed on tree growth for the first two years (p < 0.05), but there was no difference thereafter. For photosynthetic properties, CO2 effects were species-specific; no effects on Korean red pine and Chinese ash vs. significant effect on Korean mountain ash. However, maximum photosynthetic and carboxylation rates significantly decreased by 24.3% and 31.3% from 2013 to 2017, respectively. Leaf nitrogen significantly decreased by 21.0 % at eCO21.4 and 18.5 % at eCO21.8 compared with aCO2 treatment. This study showed the decline of leaf nitrogen and species-specific responses to long-term high CO2 concentration, which will effect on species competition and ecosystem succession.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)270-278
Number of pages9
JournalIForest
Volume13
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2020

Keywords

  • Carbon dioxide
  • Down-regulation
  • Elevated CO
  • Photosynthetic Properties
  • Progressive Nitrogen Limitation

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