Belowground Responses to Rising Atmospheric CO2: Implications for Plants, Soil Biota, and Ecosystem Processes : Proceedings of a Workshop Held at the University of Michigan Biological Station, Pellston, Michigan, USA, May 29–June 2, 1993

As atmospheric CO 2 increases there will almost certainly be alterations in soil carbon fluxes. It is likely that such alterations will be accompanied by changes in the partitioning of carbon between organic structures and to soil processes. These changes have the potential for further altering the structure and function of terrestrial ecosystems. While there has been increasing recognition of the importance of soil-mediated responses to global climate change, the nature and magnitude of these responses are not well understood. In an effort to expand our assessment of the significance of belowground responses to rising atmospheric CO 2 , a workshop has been organized that resulted in the peer-reviewed contributions that are contained in this volume. Front Matter....Pages I-VII Belowground responses to rising atmospheric CO 2 : Implications for plants, soil biota and ecosystem processes....Pages 1-6 Front Matter....Pages 7-7 Issues and perspectives for investigating root responses to elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide....Pages 9-20 Root response to CO 2 enrichment and nitrogen supply in loblolly pine....Pages 21-32 Free-air CO 2 enrichment of cotton: vertical and lateral root distribution patterns....Pages 33-44 Above- and belowground response of Populus grandidentata to elevated atmospheric CO 2 and soil N availability....Pages 45-51 Front Matter....Pages 53-53 Responses of soil biota to elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide....Pages 55-65 Soil microbial response in tallgrass prairie to elevated CO 2 ....Pages 67-74 The response of mycorrhizal colonization to elevated CO 2 and climate change in Pascopyrum smithii and Bouteloua gracilis ....Pages 75-80 Effect of elevated CO 2 on mycorrhizal colonization of loblolly pine ( Pinus taeda L.) seedlings....Pages 81-88 Evaluation of the use of a model rhizodeposition technique to separate root and microbial respiration in soil....Pages 89-101 Front Matter....Pages 103-103 Biomass production in a nitrogen-fertilized, tallgrass prairie ecosystem exposed to ambient and elevated levels of CO 2 ....Pages 105-113 Effects of elevated CO 2 and nitrogen fertilization pretreatments on decomposition on tallgrass prairie leaf litter....Pages 115-127 Soil pCO 2 , soil respiration, and root activity in CO 2 -fumigated and nitrogen-fertilized ponderosa pine....Pages 129-138 Enhanced root system C-sink activity, water relations and aspects of nutrient acquisition in mycotrophic Bouteloua gracilis subjected to CO 2 enrichment....Pages 139-146 Front Matter....Pages 147-147 Modeling the belowground response of plants and soil biota to edaphic and climatic change — What can we expect to gain?....Pages 149-160 Carbon cost of root systems: an architectural approach....Pages 161-169 Back Matter....Pages 171-173

As atmospheric CO2 increases there will almost certainly be alterations in soil carbon fluxes. It is likely that such alterations will be accompanied by changes in the partitioning of carbon between organic structures and to soil processes. These changes have the potential for further altering the structure and function of terrestrial ecosystems. While there has been increasing recognition of the importance of soil-mediated responses to global climate change, the nature and magnitude of these responses are not well understood. In an effort to expand our assessment of the significance of belowground responses to rising atmospheric CO2, a workshop has been organized that resulted in the peer-reviewed contributions that are contained in this volume.

Proceedings of a Workshop held at the University of Michigan Biological Station, Pellston, Michigan, U.S.A, May 29--June 2, 1993