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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 30, NO. 19, 1983, doi:10.1029/2003GL017775, 2003

On the relationship between stomatal characters and atmospheric CO₂

Chantal D. Reid

Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

Hafiz Maherali

Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

Hyrum B. Johnson

USDA-ARS, Temple, TX, USA

Stanley D. Smith

Department of Biological Sciences, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, USA

Stan D. Wullschleger

Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA

Robert B. Jackson

Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

Abstract

Leaf stomatal characters influence the response of terrestrial evapotranspiration to climate change and are used as proxies for the reconstruction of past atmospheric [CO₂]. We examined the phenotypic response of stomatal index (SI), density (SD) and aperture (AP) to rising atmospheric CO₂ in 15 species after four years exposure to a field CO₂ gradient (200 to 550 μmol mol⁻¹ atmospheric [CO₂]) or at three Free Air CO₂ Enrichment (FACE) sites. Along the CO₂ gradient, SI and SD showed no evidence of a decline to increasing [CO₂], while AP decreased slightly. There was no significant change in SI, SD or AP with CO₂ across FACE experiments. Without evolutionary changes, SI and SD may not respond to atmospheric [CO₂] in the field and are unlikely to decrease in a future high CO₂ world.

Received 19 May 2003; accepted 5 August 2003; published 4 October 2003.

Index Terms: 0315 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Biosphere/atmosphere interactions; 1615 Global Change: Biogeochemical processes (4805); 1851 Hydrology: Plant ecology; 3344 Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics: Paleoclimatology.

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Citation: Reid, C. D., H. Maherali, H. B. Johnson, S. D. Smith, S. D. Wullschleger, and R. B. Jackson (2003), On the relationship between stomatal characters and atmospheric CO₂, Geophys. Res. Lett., 30(19), 1983, doi:10.1029/2003GL017775.

Copyright 2003 by the American Geophysical Union.