Photosynthetic and Respiratory Acclimation to Experimental Warming for Four SpeCies in a Tallgrass Prairie Ecosystem

Global temperature has been Increased by 0.6 ℃ over the past century and is predicted to Increase by 1.4-5.8 ℃ by the end of this century. It is unclear what impacts global warming will have on tallgrass species. In the present study, we examined leaf net photosynthetic rate （P.） and leaf respiration rate in darkness （Rd） of Aster erlcoldes （L.） Nesom, Ambrosia psllostachya DC., Helianthus mollis Lam., and Sorghastrum nutans （L.） Nash In response to experimental warming in a tallgrass prairie ecosystem of the Great Plains, USA, in the autumn （fall） of 2000 and through 2001. Warming has been Implemented with infrared heaters since 21 November 1999. The P. increased significantly In spring, decreased in early fall, and did not change in summer and late fall in the four species under warming compared with control. The Rd of the four species increased significantly until mid-summer and then did not change under warming. Measured temperature-response curves of P. showed that warming Increased the optimum temperature of P. （Topt） by 2.32 and 4.59 ℃ for H. mollis and S. nutans, respectively, in August, whereas there were no changes in May and September, and A. ericoldes and A. psllostachya also showed no changes in any of the 3 months. However, P. at optimum temperature （Popt） showed downregulation in September and no regulation in May and August for all four species. The temperature-response curves of Rd Illustrate that the temperature sensitivity of Rd, Q10, was lower in the warmed plots compared with the control plots, except for A. ericoides in August, whereas there were no changes In May and September for all four species. The results of the present study indicate that photosynthetic and respiratory acclimation varies with species and among seasons, occurring In the mid-growing season and not in the early and late growing seasons.

Plant physiological changes along an encroachment gradient: an assessment of US Mid-Atlantic serpentine barrens

Aims Serpentine barrens of the Mid-Atlantic United States are globally rare,grass-dominated ecosystems thought to exclude C3 spe-cies and characterized by unique soil composition.However,like many grassland ecosystems globally,these sites are presently facing encroachment by surrounding forest.In this ecosystem,the tendril climbing vine,Smilax rotundifolia,forms dense thickets around bar-rens that typically precede forest encroachment.While numerous factors speculatively initiate and promote encroachment in these systems,few studies have examined photosynthetic responses of serpentine grasses to changes in resource availability initiated by encroachers or physiological ability of encroaching S.rotundifolia to colonize high-light barren environments.We sought to under-stand both environmental and physiological dynamics of encroach-ment along an irradiance gradient in these systems.Methods At three serpentine barren sites in southeastern Pennsylvania,physiological responses of the native grasses Sorghastrum nutans and Schizachyrium scoparium to increased shading by S.rotundi-folia were examined.Additionally,the physiological performance of S.rotundifolia in the forest understory was compared to that in sunlit barrens environments.Light-saturated photosynthesis(A_(sat)),stomatal conductance(g_(s)),instantaneous transpiration efficiency(ITE),maximum efficiency of photosystem II(F_(v)/F_(m)),midday leaf water potential(ψ_(leaf))and specific leaf area(SLA)were measured for all species over the course of the 2014 growing season.Two-way analyses of variance were used to assess changes in these param-eters across growing environments,as well as seasonally for each species.Multiple regression analyses were also performed to inves-tigate the influence of vapor pressure deficit(D)and leaf tempera-ture(T_(leaf))on A_(sat) and ITE.Important Findings Light-saturated photosynthesis was significantly greater in S.rotun-difolia growing in sun than in the shade(P<0.001)and early in the season(P=0.012).Sun S.rotundifolia had up to 27%greater A_(sat) than shaded plants.Even with reducedψleaf in the barrens,S.rotundifolia maintained high g_(s) though A_(sat) was limited by high D later in the growing season.These data are in agreement with recent research suggesting that plants are not subject to water limi-tation in Mid-Atlantic barrens.Unexpectedly,shaded grasses at the encroachment interface did not exhibit any significant reduc-tion in A_(sat).Declines in grass photosynthesis do not likely occur until S.rotundifolia rhizomes transition into monotypic thickets,completely excluding grasses.Encroachment by S.rotundifolia appears to be primarily facilitated by its ability to capitalize on light resources early on in the summer growing season,when environ-mental conditions are less stressful.