Response of a root hemiparasite to elevated CO2 depends on host type and soil nutrients

Although elevated CO2 may affect various forms of ecological interactions, the effect of elevated CO2 on interactions between parasitic plants and their hosts has received little attention. We examined the effect of elevated CO2 (590 mu l l(-1)) at two nutrient (NPK) levels on the interactions of the facultative root hemiparasite Rhinanthus alectorolophus with two of its hosts, the grass Lolium perenne and the legume Medicago sativa. To study possible effects on parasite mediation of competition between hosts, the parasite was grown with each host separately and with both hosts simultaneously. In addition, all combinations of hosts were grown without the parasite. Both the parasite and the host plants responded to elevated CO2 with increased growth, but only at high nutrient levels. The CO2 response of the hemiparasite was stronger than that of the hosts, but depended on the host species available. With L. perenne and M. sativa simultaneously available as hosts, the biomass of the parasite grown at elevated CO2 was 5.7 times that of parasites grown at ambient CO2. Nitrogen concentration in the parasites was not influenced by the treatments and was not related to parasite biomass. The presence of the parasite strongly reduced both the biomass of the hosts and total productivity of the system. This effect was much stronger at low than at high nutrient levels, but was not influenced by CO2 level. Elevated CO2 did not influence the competitive balance between the two different hosts grown in mixture. The results of this study support the hypothesis that hemiparasites may influence community structure and suggest that these effects are robust to changes in CO2 concentration.