AOBPreview originally published online on September 8, 2004
Annals of Botany 2004 94(5):647-656; doi:10.1093/aob/mch189
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Annals of Botany 94/5, © Annals of Botany Company 2004; all rights reserved
INVITED REVIEW |
Plant Respiration and Elevated Atmospheric CO2 Concentration: Cellular Responses and Global Significance
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, 845 West Taylor St, Chicago, IL 60607, USA
* For correspondence. E-mail mmeler{at}uic.edu
Received: 2 June 2004 Returned for revision: 14 June 2004 Accepted: 6 July 2004 Published electronically: 8 September 2004
• Background Elevated levels of atmospheric [CO2] are likely to enhance photosynthesis and plant growth, which, in turn, should result in increased specific and whole-plant respiration rates. However, a large body of literature has shown that specific respiration rates of plant tissues are often reduced when plants are exposed to, or grown at, high [CO2] due to direct effects on enzymes and indirect effects derived from changes in the plant's chemical composition.
• Scope Although measurement artefacts may have affected some of the previously reported effects of CO2 on respiration rates, the direction and magnitude for the effects of elevated [CO2] on plant respiration may largely depend on the vertical scale (from enzymes to ecosystems) at which measurements are taken. In this review, the effects of elevated [CO2] from cells to ecosystems are presented within the context of the enzymatic and physiological controls of plant respiration, the role(s) of non-phosphorylating pathways, and possible effects associated with plant size.
• Conclusions Contrary to what was previously thought, specific respiration rates are generally not reduced when plants are grown at elevated [CO2]. However, whole ecosystem studies show that canopy respiration does not increase proportionally to increases in biomass in response to elevated [CO2], although a larger proportion of respiration takes place in the root system. Fundamental information is still lacking on how respiration and the processes supported by it are physiologically controlled, thereby preventing sound interpretations of what seem to be species-specific responses of respiration to elevated [CO2]. Therefore the role of plant respiration in augmenting the sink capacity of terrestrial ecosystems is still uncertain.
Key words: Respiration, elevated CO2, cellular processes, ecosystem respiration, oxidation
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