Article (Scientific journals)
Cheatgrass is favored by warming but not CO2 enrichment in a semi-arid grassland
Blumenthal, Dana; Kray, Julie; Ortmans, William et al.
2016In Global Change Biology, Early view
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Keywords :
climate change; global warming; great plains grasslands; growing season length; nitrogen limitation; plant invasion; plant phenology; rangeland ecosystems
Abstract :
[en] Elevated CO2 and warming may alter terrestrial ecosystems by promoting invasive plants with strong community and ecosystem impacts. Invasive plant responses to elevated CO2 and warming are difficult to predict, however, because of the many mechanisms involved, including modification of phenology, physiology, and cycling of nitrogen and water. Understanding the relative and interactive importance of these processes requires multifactor experiments under realistic field conditions. Here, we test how free-air CO2 enrichment (to 600 ppmv) and infrared warming (+1.5 °C day/3 °C night) influence a functionally and phenologically distinct invasive plant in semi-arid mixed-grass prairie. Bromus tectorum (cheatgrass), a fast-growing Eurasian winter annual grass, increases fire frequency and reduces biological diversity across millions of hectares in western North America. Across 2 years, we found that warming more than tripled B. tectorum biomass and seed production, due to a combination of increased recruitment and increased growth. These results were observed with and without competition from native species, under wet and dry conditions (corresponding with tenfold differences in B. tectorum biomass), and despite the fact that warming reduced soil water. In contrast, elevated CO2 had little effect on B. tectorum invasion or soil water, while reducing soil and plant nitrogen (N). We conclude that (1) warming may expand B. tectorum's phenological niche, allowing it to more successfully colonize the extensive, invasion-resistant northern mixed-grass prairie, and (2) in ecosystems where elevated CO2 decreases N availability, CO2 may have limited effects on B. tectorum and other nitrophilic invasive species.
Research center :
Rangeland Resources Research Unit, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Fort Collins, CO, USA
Disciplines :
Environmental sciences & ecology
Author, co-author :
Blumenthal, Dana;  Rangeland Resources Research Unit - USDA Agricultural Research Service - Fort Collins, CO, USA
Kray, Julie;  Rangeland Resources Research Unit - USDA Agricultural Research Service - Fort Collins, CO, USA
Ortmans, William ;  Université de Liège > Ingénierie des biosystèmes (Biose) > Biodiversité et Paysage
Ziska, Lewis;  Crop Systems and Global Change Laboratory, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, MD, USA
Pendall, Elise;  Department of Botany & Program in Ecology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA
Language :
English
Title :
Cheatgrass is favored by warming but not CO2 enrichment in a semi-arid grassland
Alternative titles :
[fr] Le brome des toits est favorisé par la chaleur mais pas par l'augmentation de CO2 dans une prairie semi-aride
Publication date :
2016
Journal title :
Global Change Biology
ISSN :
1354-1013
eISSN :
1365-2486
Publisher :
Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, United Kingdom
Volume :
Early view
Peer reviewed :
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Funders :
USDA-ARS Climate Change, Soils & Emissions Program
USDA-CSREES Soil Processes Program (grant no. 2008-35107-18655)
US DOE Office of Science (Biological and Environmental Research) through the Western Regional Center of the National Institute for Climatic Change Research at Northern Arizona University
NSF - National Science Foundation [US-VA]
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since 20 April 2016

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