Changes in C storage by terrestrial ecosystems: How C-N interactions restrict responses to CO2 and temperature

A general model of ecosystem biogeochemistry was used to examine the responses of arctic tundra and temperate hardwood forests to a doubling of CO2 concentration and to a 5°C increase in average growing season temperature. The amount of C stored in both ecosystems increased with both increased CO2 and temperature. Under increased CO2, the increase in C storage was due to increases in the C∶N ratio of both vegetation and soils. Under increased temperature, the increased C storage in the forest was due to a shift in N from soils (with low C∶N ratios) to vegetation (with high C∶N ratios). In the tundra, both a shift in N from soils to vegetation and an increase in C∶N ratios contributed to increased C storage under higher temperatures. Neither ecosystem sequestered N from external sources because the supply rate was low.

[1]  David T. Tissue,et al.  Response of Eriophorum Vaginatum to Elevated CO_2 and Temperature in the Alaskan Tussock Tundra , 1987 .

[2]  E. Lemon,et al.  Co 2 and Plants-The Response of Plants to Rising Levels of Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide. , 1985 .

[3]  Paul J. Kramer,et al.  Carbon Dioxide Concentration, Photosynthesis, and Dry Matter Production , 1981 .

[4]  F. Chapin,et al.  FACTORS LIMITING SEASONAL GROWTH AND PEAK BIOMASS ACCUMULATION IN ERIOPHORUM VAGINATUM IN ALASKAN TUSSOCK TUNDRA , 1986 .

[5]  H. Mooney,et al.  Physiological Ecology of North American Plant Communities , 1987, Springer Netherlands.

[6]  Fred L. Bunnell,et al.  An Arctic ecosystem: The Coastal Tundra at Barrow, Alaska , 1980 .

[7]  J. Anderson,et al.  The Effects of Climate Change on Decomposition Processes in Grassland and Coniferous Forests. , 1991, Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America.

[8]  F. Chapin,et al.  Production: Biomass Relationships and Element Cycling in Contrasting Arctic Vegetation Types , 1991 .

[9]  R. Houghton,et al.  Role of Biota in Global CO2 Balance: The Controversy , 1984 .

[10]  R. Gardner,et al.  Quantitative Methods in Landscape Ecology , 1991 .

[11]  John Pastor,et al.  Factors Controlling Nitrogen Cycling and Nitrogen Saturation in Northern Temperate Forest Ecosystems. , 1991, Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America.

[12]  Boyd R. Strain,et al.  Direct effects of increasing carbon dioxide on vegetation , 1985 .

[13]  S. Idso.  Industrial age leading to the greening of the Earth? , 1986, Nature.

[14]  Edward B. Rastetter,et al.  A MODEL OF MULTIPLE-ELEMENT LIMITATION FOR ACCLIMATING VEGETATION' , 1992 .

[15]  J. Melillo,et al.  The potential storage of carbon caused by eutrophication of the biosphere , 1985 .

[16]  Peter M. Vitousek,et al.  Ecosystem Succession and Nutrient Retention: A Hypothesis , 1975 .

[17]  P. Tans,et al.  Latitudinal distribution of the sources and sinks of atmospheric carbon dioxide derived from surface observations and an atmospheric transport model , 1989 .

[18]  F. A. Bazzaz,et al.  The Response of Natural Ecosystems to the Rising Global CO2 Levels , 1990 .

[19]  Edward B. Rastetter,et al.  Global Change and the Carbon Balance of Arctic EcosystemsCarbon/nutrient interactions should act as major constraints on changes in global terrestrial carbon cycling , 1992 .

[20]  F. Berendse.  Organic matter accumulation and nitrogen mineralization during secondary succession in heathland ecosystems. , 1990 .

[21]  Terry V. Callaghan,et al.  Effects on Ecosystems , 1992, Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics.

[22]  G. Likens,et al.  Pattern and process in a forested ecosystem. , 1979 .

[23]  J. Houghton,et al.  Climate change : the IPCC scientific assessment , 1990 .

[24]  E. Rastetter,et al.  Potential Net Primary Productivity in South America: Application of a Global Model. , 1991, Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America.

[25]  Nancy B. Grimm,et al.  TEMPORAL SUCCESSION IN A DESERT STREAM ECOSYSTEM FOLLOWING FLASH FLOODING , 1982 .

[26]  W. Parton,et al.  Dynamics of C, N, P and S in grassland soils: a model , 1988 .

[27]  D. Anderson.  The effect of parent material and soil development on nutrient cycling in temperate ecosystems , 1988 .

[28]  F. Bazzaz,et al.  Terrestrial Plant Communities , 2019, CO2 and Plants.

[29]  Timothy J. Fahey,et al.  Element interactions in forest ecosystems: succession, allometry and input-output budgets , 1988 .

[30]  J. Aber,et al.  The Role of Fine Roots in the Organic Matter and Nitrogen Budgets of Two Forested Ecosystems , 1982 .

[31]  Edward B. Rastetter,et al.  A general biogeochemical model describing the responses of the C and N cycles in terrestrial ecosystems to changes in CO(2), climate, and N deposition. , 1991, Tree physiology.

[32]  R. Cook,et al.  The Major Biogeochemical Cycles and Their Interactions. , 1983 .

[33]  K. Nadelhoffer,et al.  Biogeochemical Diversity Along a Riverside Toposequence in Arctic Alaska , 1991 .

[34]  K. Nadelhoffer,et al.  Biogeochemical diversity and element transport in a heterogeneous landscape, the north slope of Alaska , 1991 .