Atmospheric CO2 Helps Oak Trees Recover from Natural Disasters
Day, F.P., Schroeder, R.E., Stover, D.B., Brown, A.L.P., Butnor, J.R., Dilustro, J., Hungate, B.A., Dijkstra, P., Duval, B.D., Seiler, T.J., Drake, B.G. and Hinkle, C.R. 2013. The effects of 11 years of CO2 enrichment on roots in a Florida scrub-oak ecosystem. New Phytologist 200: 778-787.
In their particular experiment, half of the study's open-top chambers enclosing groups of trees were exposed to eleven years of atmospheric CO2 enrichment to approximately 350 ppm above the ambient concentration. Fine root production, turnover and biomass were measured using mini-rhizotrons, while coarse root biomass was measured using ground-penetrating radar, and total root biomass using soil cores.
The twelve researchers report "total root biomass was as much as five times greater than aboveground biomass in this system, reflecting the importance of belowground structures as a carbon reservoir." They also note the belowground biomass was temporally dynamic and underwent natural cycles "affected by ecosystem disturbances in systems with strong disturbance regimes." More specifically, they state "strong CO2 effects on fine root biomass were seen after disturbance by fire and hurricane during periods of recovery followed by periods in which CO2 effects diminished."
In the concluding words of Day et al., "elevated CO2 may enhance root growth following disturbance and potentially speed up the recovery." Indeed, it would appear even following the massive aboveground destruction caused by both fires and hurricanes, atmospheric CO2 enrichment is able to bring scrub-oak ecosystems back from the brink, so to speak, to once again flourish, as the life-giving gas stimulates root production and the acquisition of needed-but-scarce soil nutrients.