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Global Climate Change Digest
A Guide to Information on Greenhouse Gases and Ozone Depletion
Published July 1988 through June 1999

FROM VOLUME 8, NUMBER 3, MARCH 1995

PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS...
IMPACTS OF ELEVATED CO₂

Item #d95mar22

"Carbon Dioxide Emissions at an Italian Mineral Spring: Measurements of Average CO₂ Concentration and Air Temperature," P.R. van Gardingen (Inst. Ecol. & Resour. Mgmt., Univ. Edinburgh, W. Mains Rd., Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UK), J. Grace et al., Agric. & For. Meteor., 73(1-2), 17-27, Feb. 1995. (See related paper: "Long-Term Effects of Naturally Elevated CO₂ on Mediterranean Grassland and Forest Trees," C. Körner, F. Miglietta, Oecologia, 99(3-4), 343-351, 1994.)

Plants at a site of natural CO₂ vents respond to the concentration of CO₂ during the day, rather than the much higher nighttime concentrations, making the system useful for biological research.

Item #d95mar23

"Estimating Australian Forest Fire Danger Under Conditions of Doubled Carbon Dioxide Concentrations," T. Beer (CSIRO Bushfire Unit, Mordialloc 3195, Australia), A. Williams, Clim. Change, 29(2), 169-188, Feb. 1995.

Two different models predict an increase in fire danger over much of Australia for doubled CO₂. They confirm that annually averaged daily relative humidity is the single most important variable in estimating forest fire danger; even though the models tend to produce relative humidities that are slightly too low, and to overestimate fire danger.

Item #d95mar24

"Mechanisms of Shrubland Expansion: Land Use, Climate or CO₂?" S. Archer (Dept. Rangeland Ecol. & Mgmt., Texas A&M Univ., College Sta. TX 77843), D.S. Schimel, E.A. Holland, ibid., 29(1), 91-99, Jan. 1995.

Evaluation of the CO₂ enrichment hypotheses shows that there is not a cause-and-effect relationship between the increase in atmospheric CO₂ since the Industrial Revolution and displacement of grasses by woody plants in many arid and semi-arid ecosystems.

Item #d95mar25

"Arctic Chill for CO₂ Uptake," (see Global Climate Change Digest, Oct 1994.)

Item #d95mar26

"Transient Nature of CO₂ Fertilization in Arctic Tundra," (see Global Climate Change Digest, p. 2, Oct.).

Item #d95mar27

Special issue: "The Free-Air Carbon Dioxide Enrichment (FACE) Cotton Project: A New Field Approach to Assess the Biological Consequences of Global Change," W.A. Dugas (Texas Agric. Experiment Sta., 808 E. Blackland Rd., Temple TX 76502), P.J. Pinter Jr., Eds., Agric. & For. Meteor., 70(1-4), approx. 300 pp., Sep. 1994. Order from Elsevier, POB 882, Madison Sq. Sta., New York NY 10159.

Includes 21 papers reporting study results from a site at Maricopa, Arizona, that used cotton as the primary crop, and a CO₂ enrichment system that allows stable control of gas concentration over large areas for entire growing seasons. Examines the design and performance of the FACE apparatus, and the effects of elevated CO₂ and irrigation treatments on plant growth and physiology, rhizosphere processes, and water and energy balances.

Item #d95mar28

"Modeling the Global Carbon Cycle. . ," (see Global Climate Change Digest, Sep 1994).

Item #d95mar29

"Ocean-Atmosphere CO₂ Exchange: An Accessible Lab Simulation for Considering Biological Effects," D.A. Noever (NASA Marshall Space Flight Ctr., ES-76, Huntsville AL 35812), H.C. Matsos et al., Clim. Change, 27(3), 299-320, July 1994.

Monitored the effects of atmospheric CO₂ on dense suspensions of bioconvecting microorganisms to study critical properties of the vertical migration of phytoplankton. The ability of such a biologically active suspension to detect atmospheric changes offers a unique method to quantify organism adjustment and vertical migration.

Item #d95mar30

"Plant Responses to Atmospheric CO₂ Enrichment in the Face of Environmental Constraints: A Review of the Past 10 Years' Research," K.E. Idso (Bot. Dept., Arizona State Univ., Tempe AZ 85287), S.B. Idso, Agric. & For. Meteor., 69(3-4), 153-203, July 1994.

Analysis of plant carbon exchange rate and dry weight responses to CO₂ enrichment shows that the percentage increase in growth produced by raising the air's CO₂ content is generally not reduced by less-than-optimal levels of light, water or soil nutrients, nor by high temperatures, salinity or gaseous air pollution. The relative growth-enhancing effects of atmospheric CO₂ enrichment are greatest when resource limitations and environmental stresses are most severe.

Item #d95mar31

"Long-Term Effects of Naturally Elevated CO₂ on Mediterranean Grassland and Forest Trees," C. Körner (Bot. Inst., Univ. Basel, Schönbeinstr. 6, CH-4056, Basel, Switz.), F. Miglietta, Oecologia, 99(3-4), 343-351, 1994.

Plants growing in a bowl-shaped, 1-ha "CO₂ spring" near Sienna, Italy, compared to those growing on a similar substrate nearby, do not grow faster, flower earlier, or become larger. However, large differences in tissue quality were found among the 40 species studied. These alterations could be expected in other plant communities if atmospheric CO₂ levels continue to rise.

Item #d95mar32

"Will Increases in Atmospheric CO₂ Affect Regrowth Following Grazing in C4 Grasses from Tropical Grasslands? A Test with Sporobolus kentrophyllus," B.J. Wilsey (Dept. Biol., Syracuse Univ., 110 College Pl., Syracuse NY 13244), S.J. McNaughton, J.S. Coleman, ibid., 99(1-2), 141-144, 1994.

Grew a C4 grass from the Serengeti under ambient and doubled CO₂, and under clipped and unclipped conditions. The grasses will show little direct response to future increases in atmospheric CO₂.

Specialized Papers

Item #d95mar33

"Effects of Low and Elevated CO₂ on C3 and C4 Annuals. I. Growth and Biomass Allocation," J.K. Dippery (Dept. Bot., Duke Univ., Durham NC 27708), D.T. Tissue et al., Oecologia, 101(1), 13-20, Jan. 1995.

Item #d95mar34

Two items from Nature, 372(6507), Dec. 15, 1994:

Discussion on climate, CO₂ and plant abundance, 625-626.

Comment on carbon fixation by an Arctic tundra ecosystem exposed to elevated CO₂, 626.

Item #d95mar35

"Predicting Responses of Photosynthesis and Root Fraction to Elevated [CO₂]a: Interactions Among Carbon, Nitrogen and Growth," Y. Luo (Biol. Sci. Ctr., Desert Res. Inst., Univ. Nevada, POB 60220, Reno NV 89506), C.B. Field, H.A. Mooney, Plant, Cell & Environ., 17(11), 1195-1204, Nov. 1994.

Item #d95mar36

Two items from Oecologia, 99(3-4), 1994:

"13C Discrimination During CO₂ Assimilation by the Terrestrial Biosphere," J. Lloyd (Inst. Advanced Studies, Australian Natl. Univ., GPO Box 475, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia), G.D. Farquhar, 201-215. A review.

"The Effect of Elevated Carbon Dioxide and Fertilization on Primary and Secondary Metabolites in Birch, Betula pendula (Roth)," A. Lavola (Dept. Biol., Univ. Joensuu, SF-80101 Joensuu, Finland), R. Julkunen-Tiitto, 315-321.