Interplay between Plant Functional Traits and Soil Carbon Sequestration under Ambient and Elevated CO 2 Levels

Siddhartha Shankar Bhattacharyya (), Pedro Mondaca, Oloka Shushupti and Sharjeel Ashfaq
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Siddhartha Shankar Bhattacharyya: Soil and Crop Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
Pedro Mondaca: Center of Biotechnology “Dr. Daniel Alkalay Lowitt”, Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, General Bari 699, Valparaiso 1680, Chile
Oloka Shushupti: Department of Soil, Water and Environment, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh
Sharjeel Ashfaq: Institute of Soil Research, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), 1180 Vienna, Austria

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 9, 1-20

Abstract: Unique plant functional traits (morpho-physio-anatomical) may respond to novel environmental conditions to counterbalance elevated carbon dioxide (eCO 2 ) concentrations. Utilizing CO 2 , plants produce photoassimilates (carbohydrates). A mechanistic understanding of partitioning and translocation of carbon/photoassimilates into different plant parts and soils under ambient and eCO 2 is required. In this study, we examine and present the intrinsic relationship between plant functional traits and eCO 2 and seek answers to (i) how do plant functional traits (morpho-physio-anatomical features) affect C storage and partitioning under ambient and eCO 2 in different plant parts? (ii) How do plant functional traits influence C transfer to the soil and rhizosphere services? Our study suggests that morpho-physio-anatomical features are interlinked, and under eCO 2 , plant functional traits influence the quantity of C accumulation inside the plant biomass, its potential translocation to different plant parts, and to the soil. The availability of additional photoassimilates aids in increasing the above- and belowground growth of plants. Moreover, plants may retain a predisposition to build thick leaves due to reduced specific leaf area, thicker palisade tissue, and higher palisade/sponge tissue thickness. eCO 2 and soil-available N can alter root anatomy, the release of metabolites, and root respiration, impacting potential carbon transfer to the soil.

Keywords: elevated CO 2; carbon cycling; carbon emissions; carbon accumulation; rhizosphere (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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