FOREST RESPONSES TO CO2 ENRICHMENT AND CLIMATE WARMING

Two of the major uncertainties in forecasting future terrestrial sources and SinkS Of CO2 are the CO2-enhanced growth response of forests and soil warming effects on net CO2 efflux from forests. Carbon dioxide enrichment of tree seedlings over time periods less than 1 yr has generally resulted in enhanced rates of photosynthesis, decreased respiration, and increased growth, with minor increases in leaf area and small changes in C allocation. Exposure of woody species to elevated CO2 over several years has shown that high rates of photosynthesis may be sustained, but net C accumulation may not necessarily increase if CO2 release from soil respiration increases. The impact of the 25% rise in atmospheric CO2 with industrialization has been examined in tree ring chronologies from a range of species and locations. In contrast to the seedling tree results, there is no convincing evidence for CO2-enhanced stem growth of mature trees during the last several decades. However, if mature trees show a preferential root growth response to CO2 enrichment, the gain in root mass for an oak-hickory forest in eastern Tennessee is estimated to be only 9% over the last 40 years. Root data bases are inadequate for detecting such an effect. A very small shift in ecosystem nutrients from soil to vegetation could support CO2-enhanced growth. Climate warming and the accompanying increase in mean soil temperature could have a greater effect than CO2 enrichment on terrestrial sources and sinks Of CO2. Soil respiration and N mineralization have been shown to increase with soil temperature. If plant growth increases with increased N availability, and more C is fixed in growth than is released by soil respiration, then a negative feedback on climate warming will occur. If warming results in a net increase in CO2 efflux from forests, then a positive feedback will follow. A 2 to 4-degrees-C increase in soil temperature could increase CO2 efflux from soil by 15 to 32% in eastern deciduous forests. Quantifying C budget responses of forests to future global change scenarios will be speculative until mature tree responses to CO2 enrichment and the effects of temperature on terrestrial sources and sinks of CO2 can be determined.