Most studies on the effects of elevated CO2 have focused on the effects on plant growth and ecosystem processes. Fewer studies have examined the effects of elevated CO2 on herbivory, and of these, most have examined feeding rates in laboratory conditions. Our study takes advantage of an open-top CO2 fertilization […]
The functioning of” plants in terrestrial ecosystems must satisfy different constraints imposed by the physical environment. The prevention of embolism and conservation of internal water constrain stomatal behavior and leaf area indices that plants may sustain. Plant height and canopy structure are controlled by water and nutrients through carbon allocation […]
How soil microbial communities contrast with respect to taxonomic and functional composition within and between ecosystems remains an unresolved question that is central to predicting how global anthropogenic change will affect soil functioning and services. In particular, it remains unclear how small-scale observations of soil communities based on the typical volume sampled (1-2 grams) are generalizable to ecosystem- scale responses and processes. This is especially relevant for remote, northern latitude […]
The effects of CO2 elevation on the dynamics of fine root (FR) mass and ectomycorrhizal (EM) mass and colonization were studied in situ in a Florida scrub oak system over four years of postfire regeneration. Soil cores were taken at five dates and sorted to assess the standing crop of […]
Changes in tree species composition could affect how forests produce and consume greenhouse gases, because the soil microorganisms that carry out these biogeochemical transformations are often sensitive to plant characteristics. We examined the effects of thirty years of stand development under six tree species in Siberian forests (Scots pine, spruce, […]
Experimentally increasing atmospheric CO2 often stimulates plant growth and ecosystem carbon (C) uptake. Biogeochemical theory predicts that these initial responses will immobilize nitrogen (N) in plant biomass and soil organic matter, causing N availability to plants to decline, and reducing the long-term CO2-stimulation of C storage in N limited ecosystems. […]
[1] Measuring the stable isotope composition of nitrous oxide (N2O) evolved from soil could improve our understanding of the relative contributions of the main microbial processes (nitrification and denitrification) responsible for N2O formation in soil. However, interpretation of the isotopic data in N2O is complicated by the lack of knowledge of […]
Forest ecosystems assimilate more CO2 from the atmosphere and store more carbon in woody biomass than most nonforest ecosystems, indicating strong potential for afforestation to serve as a carbon management tool. However, converting grasslands to forests could affect ecosystem–atmosphere exchanges of other greenhouse gases, such as nitrous oxide and methane […]
Management of forests for carbon uptake is an important tool in the effort to slow the increase in atmospheric CO2 and global warming. However, some current policies governing forest carbon credits actually promote avoidable CO2 release and punish actions that would increase long-term carbon storage. In fire-prone forests, management that […]
We compared energy fluxes between a site converted from ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forest to sparse grassland by a severe wildfire 10 years ago and a nearby, unburned forest. We used eddy covariance and associated instruments to measure total radiation, net radiation, albedo, and fluxes of energy into latent heat, […]