Simulated global environmental changes impact plant...( In a high-performance machine each par...)

In a high-performance machine, each part is essential to the overall function of the whole. In ecology, species diversity is necessary to the smooth operation of the ecosystem. Until recently, little attention has been paid to the potential ecological effects on plant diversity from combined global environmental changes including increased atmospheric CO2, warming, elevated nitrogen pollution, and increased precipitation. Scientists from the Carnegie Institution's Department of Global Ecology in Palo Alto, California, and Stanford University published a study on this subject in the June 16-20, 2003, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Online Early Edition. "We were surprised at how quickly some environmental changes can alter the complexion of an ecosystem," said Erika Zavaleta, the study's lead author and a new member of the faculty at the University of California, Santa Cruz. The finding is significant for understanding what can happen to ecosystems when confronted with the interrelated climactic and atmospheric changes that are observed today and that presage larger changes in the future.

The Carnegie and Stanford scientists conducted their three-year study in the Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve - a typical California grassland where the 43 plant species are a mixture of grasses and wildflowers. "We simulated a series of possible future environments for California, with four global change factors: elevated CO2, warming, nitrogen pollution, and added precipitation, alone and in combinations. Different combinations with altered levels of two, three, and four of these variables are likely to reflect future conditions in different parts of the globe," said Chris Field, director of the Carnegie Institution's Department of Global Ecology and coordinator of the Jasper Ridge study.

"At the end of three years, we found that treatments with three of the four experimental treatments changed total plant diversity. Elevated CO2 reduced dive
'"/>

Contact: Chris Field
cfield@globalecology.stanford.edu
650-325-1521 x 213
Carnegie Institution
16-Jun-2003

Page: 1 2
Related biology news :

1. Poplar DNA code cracked -- a step in combating global warming?
2. Do genes respond to global warming?
3. Fossils reveal direct link between global warming and genetic diversity in wildlife
4. Technology already exists to stabilize global warming
5. NASA scientists get global fix on food, wood & fiber use
6. New version of premier global climate model released
7. Trapping carbon in soil key for protecting global food security, dealing with climate change
8. First ever standards linking climate change, biodiversity and poverty seek global peer review
9. 51 globally threatened species get new lease on life in the Caucasus
10. Institute for OneWorld Health CEO to speak at BIO on leveraging opportunities for global health
11. Earth, sky tapped in unique global climate change study