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The fate of carbon in grasslands under carbon dioxide enrichment

Nature volume 388, pages 576–579 (1997)Cite this article

Abstract

The concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth's atmosphere is rising rapidly1, with the potential to alter many ecosystem processes. Elevated CO2 often stimulates photosynthesis2, creating the possibility that the terrestrial biosphere will sequester carbon in response to rising atmospheric CO2 concentration, partly offsetting emissions from fossil-fuel combustion, cement manufacture, and deforestation3,4. However, the responses of intact ecosystems to elevated CO2 concentration, particularly the below-ground responses, are not well understood. Here we present an annual budget focusing on below-ground carbon cycling for two grassland ecosystems exposed to elevated CO2 concentrations. Three years of experimental CO2 doubling increased ecosystem carbon uptake, but greatly increased carbon partitioning to rapidly cycling carbon pools below ground. This provides an explanation for the imbalance observed in numerous CO2 experiments, where the carbon increment from increased photosynthesis is greater than the increments in ecosystem carbon stocks. The shift in ecosystem carbon partitioning suggests that elevated CO2 concentration causes a greater increase in carbon cycling than in carbon storage in grasslands.

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Figure 1
Figure 2: Soil δ13C (0–15 cm) as a function of time.
Figure 3: Annual carbon fluxes in g C m−2 yr−1 for 1994 in the sandstone grassland in ambient (white boxes) and elevated (black boxes) CO2.
Figure 4: Partitioning below-ground respiration using the 13C isotope tracer in the microcosm experiment.

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Acknowledgements

We thank N. Chiariello, C. Chu, G. Joel, Y. Luo, B. Mortimer, E. Nelson, J.Randerson, H. Reynolds, J. des Rosier, S. Thayer and J. Whitbeck for contributions to the design and execution of the experiment; H. Whitted for help with experimental design and construction; P. Canadell, Z.Cardon, R. Martin and A. Townsend for assistance and advice with the 13CO2 labelling, sampling and interpretation; J. Sulzman for help with the figures; and D. Schimel for help with the isotope calculations. The Jasper Ridge CO2 experiment is supported by grants from the US NSF to the Carnegie Institution of Washington, Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley. B.A.H. was supported by a National Defense Science and Engineering graduate fellowship and an NSF doctoral dissertation improvement grant. R.B.J. was supported by a grant from NIGEC/DOE and a DOE distinguished postdoctoral fellowship for global change. The National Center for Atmospheric Research is sponsored by the NSF. This is publication number 1344 from the Carnegie Institution of Washington, Department of Plant Biology.

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  1. Bruce A. Hungate

    Present address: Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, Maryland, 21037, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, 94720, California, USA

    Bruce A. Hungate & F. Stuart Chapin III

  2. Atmospheric Chemistry Division, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, 80307, Colorado, USA

    Elisabeth A. Holland

  3. Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, 94305, California, USA

    Harold A. Mooney

  4. Department of Botany, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, 78713, Texas, USA

    Robert B. Jackson

  5. Department of Plant Biology, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Stanford, 94305, California, USA

    Christopher B. Field

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  1. Bruce A. Hungate
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Correspondence to Bruce A. Hungate.

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Hungate, B., Holland, E., Jackson, R. et al. The fate of carbon in grasslands under carbon dioxide enrichment. Nature 388, 576–579 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/41550

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