Impact of elevated CO_2 concentration under three soil water levels on growth of Cinnamomum camphora

Forest plays very important roles in global system with about 35% land area producing about 70% of total land net production. It is important to consider both elevated CO2 concentrations and different soil moisture when the possible effects of elevated CO2 concentration on trees are assessed. In this study, we grew Cinnamomum camphora seedlings under two CO2 concentrations （350 μmol/mol and 500μmnol/mol） and three soil moisture levels [80%, 60% and 40% FWC （field water capacity）] to focus on the effects of exposure of trees to elevated CO2 on underground and aboveground plant growth, and its dependence on soil moisture. The results indicated that high CO2 concentration has no significant effects on shoot height but significantly impacts shoot weight and ratio of shoot weight to height under three soil moisture levels. The response of root growth to CO2 enrichment is just reversed, there are obvious effects on root length growth, but no effects on root weight growth and ratio of root weight to length. The CO2 enrichment decreased 20.42%, 32.78%, 20.59% of weight ratio of root to shoot under 40%, 60% and 80% FWC soil water conditions, respectively. And elevated CO2 concentration significantly increased the water content in aboveground and underground parts. Then we concluded that high CO2 concentration favours more tree aboveground biomass growth than underground biomass growth under favorable soil water conditions. And CO2 enrichment enhanced lateral growth of shoot and vertical growth of root. The responses of plants to elevated CO2 depend on soil water availability, and plants may benefit more from CO2 enrichment with sufficient water supply.

Nondestructive estimation of bok choy nitrogen status with an active canopy sensor in comparison to a chlorophyll meter

Precise estimation of vegetable nitrogen(N)status is critical in optimizing N fertilization management.However,nondestructive and accurate N diagnostic methods for vegetables are relatively scarce.In our two-year field experiment,we evaluated whether an active canopy sensor(GreenSeeker)could be used to nondestructively predict N status of bok choy(Brassica rapa subsp.chinensis)compared with a chlorophyll meter.Results showed that the normalized difference vegetation index(NDVI)and ratio vegetation index(RVI)generated by the active canopy sensor were well correlated with the aboveground biomass(AGB)(r=0.698–0.967),plant N uptake(PNU)(r=0.642–0.951),and root to shoot ratio(RTS)(r=-0.426 to-0.845).Compared with the chlorophyll meter,the active canopy sensor displayed much higher accuracy(5.0%–177.4%higher)in predicting AGB and PNU and equal or slightly worse(0.54–1.82 times that of the chlorophyll meter)for RTS.The sensor-based NDVI model performed equally well in estimating AGB(R2=0.63)and PNU(R2=0.61),but the meter-based model predicted RTS better(R2=0.50).Inclusion of the days after transplanting(DAT)significantly improved the accuracy of sensor-based AGB(19.0%–56.7%higher)and PNU(24.6%–84.6%higher)estimation models.These findings suggest that the active canopy sensor has a great potential for nondestructively estimating N status of bok choy accurately and thus for better N recommendations,especially with inclusion of DAT,and could be applied to more vegetables with some verification.