Comment on "Unexpected reversal of C3 versus C4 grass response to elevated CO2 during a 20-year field experiment"

Ming Nie; Junyu Zou; Xiao Xu; Chao Liang; Changming Fang; Bo Li

doi:10.1126/science.aau3016

Comment on "Unexpected reversal of C₃ versus C₄ grass response to elevated CO₂ during a 20-year field experiment"

Science. 2018 Aug 31;361(6405):eaau3016. doi: 10.1126/science.aau3016.

Authors

Ming Nie¹, Junyu Zou², Xiao Xu², Chao Liang³, Changming Fang², Bo Li²

Affiliations

¹ Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Coastal Ecosystems Research Station of the Yangtze River Estuary, Fudan University, 2005 Songhu Road, Shanghai 200438, China. mnie@fudan.edu.cn.
² Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Coastal Ecosystems Research Station of the Yangtze River Estuary, Fudan University, 2005 Songhu Road, Shanghai 200438, China.
³ Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China.

PMID: 30166457
DOI: 10.1126/science.aau3016

Abstract

Reich et al (Reports, 20 April 2018, p. 317) reported that elevated carbon dioxide (eCO₂) switched its effect from promoting C₃ grasses to favoring C₄ grasses in a long-term experiment. We argue that the authors did not appropriately elucidate the interannual climate variation as a potential mechanism for the reversal of C₄-C₃ biomass in response to eCO₂.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Comment

MeSH terms

Biomass
Carbon Dioxide*
Climate
Poaceae*

Substances

Carbon Dioxide