Carbon dioxide enrichment accelerates the decline in nutrient status and relative growth rate of Populus tremuloides Michx. seedlings

Abstract

Changes in growth dynamics and mineral nutrient concentrations were measured in Populus tremuloides Michx., trembling aspen, grown for 100 days following germination in atmospheres containing 350 or 750 μl l⁻¹ CO₂. Seedlings were fertilized with nitrogen (N) at concentrations of 15.5 mM (high-N), 1.55 mM (medium-N), or 0.155 mM (low-N). Initially, relative growth rates were enhanced by CO₂ enrichment in each N regime, but the effects did not persist. In plants grown in high-N or medium-N, foliar concentrations of Ca and Mg decreased in response to CO₂ enrichment. During the 100-day study, whole-plant concentrations of N and P decreased in all treatments. The decreases in mineral nutrient concentrations over time were accelerated in CO₂-enriched plants and accompanied the disappearance of the CO₂-induced growth enhancement. It is concluded that the depression of relative growth rates often associated with long-term CO₂ enrichment of plants may result from decreases in plant nutrient status.