INCREASED PHOTOSYNTHETIC CAPACITY OF SCIRPUS-OLNEYI AFTER 4 YEARS OF EXPOSURE TO ELEVATED CO2

While a short-term exposure to elevated atmospheric CO2 induces a large increase in photosynthesis in many plants, long-term growth in elevated CO2 often results in a smaller increase due to reduced photosynthetic capacity. In this study, it was shown that, for a wild C3 species growing in its natural environment and exposed to elevated CO2 for four growing seasons, the photosynthetic capacity has actually increased by 31%. An increase in photosynthetic capacity has been observed in other species growing in the field, which suggests that photosynthesis of certain field grown plants will continue to respond to elevated levels of atmospheric CO2.