Plant water use efficiency of 17 Australian NAD-ME and NADP-ME C4 grasses at ambient and elevated CO2 partial pressure

This study investigates the response to elevated CO2 partial pressure (pCO(2)) of C-4 grasses belonging to different biochemical subtypes (NAD-ME and NADP-ME), and taxonomic groups (main Chloroid assemblage, Paniceae and Andropogoneae). Seventeen C-4 grasses were grown under well-watered conditions in two glasshouses maintained at an average daily pCO(2) of 42 (ambient) or 68 (elevated) Pa. Elevated pCO(2) significantly increased plant water-use efficiency (WUE; dry matter gain per unit water transpired) in 12 out of the 17 C-4 grasses, by an average of 33%. In contrast, only five species showed a significant growth stimulation. When all species are considered, the average plant dry mass enhancement at elevated pCO(2) was 26%. There were no significant subtype (or taxa) x pCO(2) interactions on either WUE or biomass accumulation. When leaf gas exchange was compared at growth pCO(2) but similar light and temperature, high pCO(2)-grown plants had similar CO2 assimilation rates (A) but a 40% lower stomatal conductance than their low pCO(2)-grown counterparts. There were no signs of either photosynthetic or stomatal acclimation in any of the measured species. We conclude that elevated pCO(2) improved WUE primarily by reducing stomatal conductance.