Differential influence of elevated CO2 on gas exchange and water use efficiency of four indigenous shrub species distributed in different sandy environments in central Inner Mongolia

• Published in: Ecological Research Vol. 33; no. 5; pp. 863 - 871
• Main Authors: Li, Qiaoyan, Lai, Liming, Zhou, Jihua, Du, Hui, Guan, Tianyu, Zhang, Xiaolong, Jiang, Lianhe, Zheng, Yuanrun, Yu, Yi, Gao, Yong, An, Ping, Shimizu, Hideyuki
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tokyo Wiley 01.09.2018; Springer Japan; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: arid lands; Arid regions; Artemisia; Artemisia ordosica; Artemisia sphaerocephala; Behavioral Sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Caragana korshinskii; Carbon dioxide; carbon dioxide enrichment; China; Climate change; Conductance; Ecology; Ecophysiology; Elevated CO2; Evolutionary Biology; Forestry; Gas exchange; Global warming; Grasslands; Growth chambers; Hedysarum; Hedysarum laeve; Indigenous species; Life Sciences; Native organisms; Original Article; Plant growth; Plant Sciences; Resistance; Restoration; screening; Seedlings; Semiarid zones; shrubs; Stomata; Stomatal conductance; Transpiration; Water potential; Water use; Water use efficiency; Zoology; China; Inner Mongolia China; Elevated CO
• ISSN: 0912-3814; 1440-1703
• DOI: 10.1007/s11284-018-1568-2

In view of the increase in global warming and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) concentrations, it is essential to investigate the influences of climate change on plant growth and water use in arid and semi-arid grassland species. Experiments were conducted to understand the ecophysiological response of four indigenous species to elevated CO 2 in the semi-arid sandy grassland of central Inner Mongolia. Seedlings of the four species were grown for 8 weeks at four different consistently elevated CO 2 concentrations in the environment-controlled growth chambers. All four elevated CO 2 concentrations (400, 800, 1200, 1600 ppm) were found to result in decreased stomatal conductance (26–86%), decreased transpiration rate (21–80%), increased shoot water potential (1–42%) and increased water use efficiency (WUE) (10–412%) for two Artemisia species and Caragana korshinskii . Under our experimental conditions, the two Artemisia species and C. korshinskii would benefit more than Hedysarum laeve from exposure to elevated CO 2 in terms of higher shoot water potential and WUE combined with lower stomatal conductance and transpiration rate. The results indicate that in a warmer, CO 2 -enriched future atmospheric environment, WUE in semi-arid grasslands may be higher than previously expected. Our findings will provide information for screening appropriate species for restoration of the degraded sandy grasslands in semi-arid areas under future climate change scenarios.