1997/06/01 by Bert G. Drake, Miquel A. Gonzàlez‐Meler, Steve P. Long · 8 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Environmental Science · Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Plant responses to elevated CO2 #Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics #Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols
paper · doi:10.1146/annurev.arplant.48.1.609
openalex publication_date 1997/06/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
The primary effect of the response of plants to rising atmospheric CO2 (Ca) is to increase resource use efficiency. Elevated Ca reduces stomatal conductance and transpiration and improves water use efficiency, and at the same time it stimulates higher rates of photosynthesis and increases light-use efficiency. Acclimation of photosynthesis during long-term exposure to elevated Ca reduces key enzymes of the photosynthetic carbon reduction cycle, and this increases nutrient use efficiency. Improved soil-water balance, increased carbon uptake in the shade, greater carbon to nitrogen ratio, and reduced nutrient quality for insect and animal grazers are all possibilities that have been observed in field studies of the effects of elevated Ca. These effects have major consequences for agriculture and native ecosystems in a world of rising atmospheric Ca and climate change.