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The competitive advantage of a constitutive CAM species over a C4 grass species under drought and CO2 enrichment

Publication ,  Journal Article
Yu, K; D'Odorico, P; Collins, SL; Carr, D; Porporato, A; Anderegg, WRL; Gilhooly, WP; Wang, L; Bhattachan, A; Bartlett, M; Hartzell, S; Yin, J ...
Published in: Ecosphere
May 1, 2019

Plants with crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) are increasing in distribution and abundance in drylands worldwide, but the underlying drivers remain unknown. We investigate the impacts of extreme drought and CO2 enrichment on the competitive relationships between seedlings of Cylindropuntia imbricata (CAM species) and Bouteloua eriopoda (C4 grass), which coexist in semiarid ecosystems across the Southwestern United States. Our experiments under altered water and CO2 water conditions show that C. imbricata positively responded to CO2 enrichment under extreme drought conditions, while B. eriopoda declined from drought stress and did not recover after the drought ended. Conversely, in well-watered conditions B. eriopoda had a strong competitive advantage on C. imbricata such that the photosynthetic rate and biomass (per individual) of C. imbricata grown with B. eriopoda were lower relative to when growing alone. A meta-analysis examining multiple plant families across global drylands shows a positive response of CAM photosynthesis and productivity to CO2 enrichment. Collectively, our results suggest that under drought and elevated CO2 concentrations, projected with climate change, the competitive advantage of plant functional groups may shift and the dominance of CAM plants may increase in semiarid ecosystems.

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Published In

Ecosphere

DOI

EISSN

2150-8925

Publication Date

May 1, 2019

Volume

10

Issue

5

Related Subject Headings

  • 4102 Ecological applications
  • 3103 Ecology
  • 0608 Zoology
  • 0602 Ecology
  • 0501 Ecological Applications
 

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Yu, K., D’Odorico, P., Collins, S. L., Carr, D., Porporato, A., Anderegg, W. R. L., … Fuentes, J. D. (2019). The competitive advantage of a constitutive CAM species over a C4 grass species under drought and CO2 enrichment. Ecosphere, 10(5). https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2721
Yu, K., P. D’Odorico, S. L. Collins, D. Carr, A. Porporato, W. R. L. Anderegg, W. P. Gilhooly, et al. “The competitive advantage of a constitutive CAM species over a C4 grass species under drought and CO2 enrichment.” Ecosphere 10, no. 5 (May 1, 2019). https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2721.
Yu K, D’Odorico P, Collins SL, Carr D, Porporato A, Anderegg WRL, et al. The competitive advantage of a constitutive CAM species over a C4 grass species under drought and CO2 enrichment. Ecosphere. 2019 May 1;10(5).
Yu, K., et al. “The competitive advantage of a constitutive CAM species over a C4 grass species under drought and CO2 enrichment.” Ecosphere, vol. 10, no. 5, May 2019. Scopus, doi:10.1002/ecs2.2721.
Yu K, D’Odorico P, Collins SL, Carr D, Porporato A, Anderegg WRL, Gilhooly WP, Wang L, Bhattachan A, Bartlett M, Hartzell S, Yin J, He Y, Li W, Tatlhego M, Fuentes JD. The competitive advantage of a constitutive CAM species over a C4 grass species under drought and CO2 enrichment. Ecosphere. 2019 May 1;10(5).

Published In

Ecosphere

DOI

EISSN

2150-8925

Publication Date

May 1, 2019

Volume

10

Issue

5

Related Subject Headings

  • 4102 Ecological applications
  • 3103 Ecology
  • 0608 Zoology
  • 0602 Ecology
  • 0501 Ecological Applications