Higher carbon dioxide may give pines competitive edge
August 3, 2009
Loblolly trees growing under elevated carbon dioxide levels emitted from towers at Duke Forest's FACE site | Chris Hildreth
(PhysOrg.com) -- Pine trees grown for 12 years in air one-and-a-half times richer in carbon dioxide than today's levels produced twice as many seeds of at least as good a quality as those growing under normal conditions, a Duke University-led research team reported Monday (Aug. 3) at a national ecology conference.
Carbon dioxide readings that high are expected everywhere by mid-century. The findings suggest some woody tree species could, in the future, out-compete grasses and other herbaceous plants that scientists had previously found can also produce more seeds under high-CO2, but of inferior quality.
"Even if both groups were producing twice as many seeds, if the trees are producing high-quality seeds and the herbaceous species aren't, then competitively you can get a shift," said Danielle Way, a Duke post-doctoral researcher.
Way is scheduled to present the results at a poster session 5 p.m. Aug. 3 during the Ecological Society of America's 2009 annual meeting in Albuquerque, N.M. She is also first author of a report on the study scheduled for publication in the research journal Global Change Biology.
Way and her co-researchers collected, counted and analyzed seeds produced at the Duke Free Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE) site in Duke Forest, near the university's campus. There, growing parcels of loblolly pine trees have been receiving elevated amounts of CO2 around the clock since 1997 in a Department of Energy-funded project designed to simulate natural growing conditions.
Their analysis found the high-CO2 loblolly seeds were similar in nutrient content, germination and growth potential to seeds from trees growing under present-day CO2 concentrations. "If anything, they actually seem to be slightly better seeds rather than more seeds of poorer quality," Way said.
"The notion here is that if the trees are producing more high-quality seeds at high CO2 compared to grasses and herbs, then the trees may be at an advantage," added study participant Robert Jackson. Jackson is Way's advisor at Duke, where he is a biology professor, as well as professor of global environmental change at the university's Nicholas School of the Environment.
The ultimate competitive outcome will depend on how other trees comparatively respond to high-CO2, said James Clark, another Duke biology professor and Nicholas School professor of the environment who also participated in the study. "We don't know that yet, because we only have estimates for loblolly pines," Clark said.
Source: Duke University (news : web)
Aug 17, 2006 |
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Despite all the scare mongering about CO2-induced global warming, CO2 is in fact gaseous plant food in the natural cycle of carbon-based life life.
With kind regards,
Oliver K. Manuel
http://www.omatumr.com
At least that is believed to be what is happening in Yosemite where the meadows are shrinking. In the past the Amerinds living there deliberately set fires and this seems to have expanded the grassy meadows. Trees kill grass with leaves and grass kills trees with fire. Its not just animals that compete.
Ethelred
Grass fires would in effect help open the cone and spread the seeds, while enriching the ground below for the new seedlings.
What I would be more concerned about is the fact that we're seeing a "tree infestation" in the plains states, where prior, there were NO trees.
Redwoods certainly do. Nevertheless trees are encroaching the meadows at Yosemite in the valley. Unless I am remembering wrong.
It turns out that in Yosemite the trees in question are ponderosa pines.
http://repositori...cle=1331&context=ced/places
The link may not work so here is the Google search I used. This was the top item.
yosemite meadows trees burn
This is not to say that you aren't generally correct on this.
Checking for more with:
great plains evergreens encroachment
And yes stuff shows up about junipers. It looks like several, perhaps all, of the links are for the same study.
Different conditions different results. Yosemite is pretty unique and things that occur there shouldn't be extrapolated to the plain states.
Ethelred
I understand the scope had to remain small to get better results, but to insinuate that this gives Pines an advantage, when elevated CO2 is beneficial to most all species of plants, is surprising to see in a scientific context. More reseach needs to be done to confirm anything, nevertheless, very interesting finding.
http://www.er.doe...ACE.html
The results of the ORNL study was interesting. Not certain if this has made peer review yet, but check out http://face.ornl....dex.html , The results are interesting.
It is attributed mostly to the strict control of wild fires (followed by past Department of Roads actions of planting "wind break" lines). I don't know if I really had a point with my OP... wasn't trying to suggest it was do to CO2, the opposite if anything.
As a requirement to hunting on a family friends land he jokingly said this year we had to take 10 pines for every turkey we got.
Similar to the beetle kill in the Rockies, the encroaching pines may have some viability as a biomass energy source?
Actually, a number of years ago I read an archaeology report that indicated that there were originally many, many trees in the Great Plains region before tribes of Native Americans burned them all down to make room for Buffalo habitat.
I do not recall the name of the report or the year I read it but the last time I looked for it much of the information had been suppressed as a result of lawsuits and so forth.
Perhaps we all should try to locate the information. I would like to find it at any rate. Next time I am getting a photocopy of it if I find it again!