Decadal biomass increment in early secondary succession woody ecosystems is increased by CO2 enrichment

Anthony P. Walker (), Martin G. De Kauwe, Belinda E. Medlyn, Sönke Zaehle, Colleen M. Iversen, Shinichi Asao, Bertrand Guenet, Anna Harper, Thomas Hickler, Bruce A. Hungate, Atul K. Jain, Yiqi Luo, Xingjie Lu, Meng Lu, Kristina Luus, J. Patrick Megonigal, Ram Oren, Edmund Ryan, Shijie Shu, Alan Talhelm, Ying-Ping Wang, Jeffrey M. Warren, Christian Werner, Jianyang Xia, Bai Yang, Donald R. Zak and Richard J. Norby
Additional contact information
Anthony P. Walker: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Martin G. De Kauwe: University of New South Wales
Belinda E. Medlyn: Western Sydney University
Sönke Zaehle: Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry
Colleen M. Iversen: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Shinichi Asao: Colorado State University
Bertrand Guenet: Université Paris-Saclay
Anna Harper: University of Exeter
Thomas Hickler: Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F)
Bruce A. Hungate: Northern Arizona University
Atul K. Jain: University of Illinois
Yiqi Luo: Northern Arizona University
Xingjie Lu: CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere
Meng Lu: Yunnan University
Kristina Luus: Dublin Institute of Technology
J. Patrick Megonigal: Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
Ram Oren: Duke University
Edmund Ryan: University of Manchester
Shijie Shu: University of Illinois
Alan Talhelm: University of Idaho
Ying-Ping Wang: CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere
Jeffrey M. Warren: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Christian Werner: Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F)
Jianyang Xia: East China Normal University
Bai Yang: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Donald R. Zak: University of Michigan
Richard J. Norby: Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Nature Communications, 2019, vol. 10, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract Increasing atmospheric CO2 stimulates photosynthesis which can increase net primary production (NPP), but at longer timescales may not necessarily increase plant biomass. Here we analyse the four decade-long CO2-enrichment experiments in woody ecosystems that measured total NPP and biomass. CO2 enrichment increased biomass increment by 1.05 ± 0.26 kg C m−2 over a full decade, a 29.1 ± 11.7% stimulation of biomass gain in these early-secondary-succession temperate ecosystems. This response is predictable by combining the CO2 response of NPP (0.16 ± 0.03 kg C m−2 y−1) and the CO2-independent, linear slope between biomass increment and cumulative NPP (0.55 ± 0.17). An ensemble of terrestrial ecosystem models fail to predict both terms correctly. Allocation to wood was a driver of across-site, and across-model, response variability and together with CO2-independence of biomass retention highlights the value of understanding drivers of wood allocation under ambient conditions to correctly interpret and predict CO2 responses.

Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-08348-1

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