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Depth-dependency of trembling aspen and paper birch small-root responses to eCO2 and eO3

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Abstract

Background and Aims

Projected changes in the atmospheric concentrations of CO2 and tropospheric O3 over the next 50 years are of significant concern due to the linkages in the cycling of carbon and water in forested ecosystems. Responses of tree roots to elevated CO2 (eCO2) and O3 (eO3) have been characterized primarily by studies of relatively shallow roots, yet deeper roots often play a disproportionately large role in water acquisition relative to their biomass. We undertook the present study to determine if there were significant root responses to eCO2 and eO3 below the maximum soil depths typically studied.

Methods

In the current study, we characterized small root biomass and morphometric responses to eCO2 and eO3 at the Aspen-FACE Experiment in Rhinelander, Wisconsin down to a depth of one meter.

Results

Elevated CO2 caused relatively undifferentiated growth stimulation. Elevated O3 stimulated root growth in the AA community at depth, while in the AB community there was a reduction in root growth in the shallow soil layer that was reversed in the deeper layers.

Conclusions

Root responses below depths typically studied were qualitatively similar than those within shallower soils for eCO2, but were sometimes compensatory for eO3.

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Acknowledgements

This work was conducted at the Aspen free air CO2 and O3 enrichment experiment at the USFS Northern Research Station Harshaw Experiment Station near Rhinelander, Wisconsin (Aspen FACE). Aspen FACE is principally supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research, Grant No. DE-FG02-95ER62125, to Michigan Technological University, and Contract No. DE-AC02-98CH10886 to Brookhaven National Laboratory, and the U.S. Forest Service. Major support specifically for this research at Aspen FACE was provided by USDA NRI Competitive Grants Program (2001-35107-11262 and 2004-35102-16723), USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, and the Department of Forestry and Environmental Sciences of the North Carolina State University.

The Department of Biology and the Plant and Vegetation Ecology Research Group (PLECO) of the University of Antwerp, the Belgian Francqui Foundation, and the U.S. Council for International Exchange of Scholars-Fulbright Program, provided sabbatical support to JSK during the writing of this manuscript.

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  1. Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University, Campus Box 8002, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA

    L. K. Rhea & J. S. King

  2. Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, B-2610, Wilrijk, Belgium

    J. S. King

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  1. L. K. Rhea
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Correspondence to L. K. Rhea.

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Rhea, L.K., King, J.S. Depth-dependency of trembling aspen and paper birch small-root responses to eCO2 and eO3 . Plant Soil 355, 215–229 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-011-1094-2

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