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Carbon fertilization

Underground competition

Nature Climate Change volume 2, pages 74–75 (2012)Cite this article

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Increased atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and ozone (O3) are known to influence photosynthesis and plant growth. What is less clear is how small-scale experiments translate to complex communities such as forests, where competition within and between species, especially for growth-limiting soil nitrogen, can influence plant growth responses.

Donald Zak, from the University of Michigan in the United States, and co-workers used a nitrogen isotope tracer in a 12-year free-air carbon enrichment experiment to assess soil resource acquisition by contrasting genetic variants (genotypes) of aspen, and in mixed aspen–birch and aspen–maple communities. This allowed them to determine whether increased CO2 and O3 had interactive effects on soil nitrogen acquisition and whether belowground competition for resources changed over time.

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  1. Alastair Brown
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Brown, A. Underground competition. Nature Clim Change 2, 74–75 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1405

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