Responses of respiration to increases in carbon dioxide concentration and temperature in three soybean cultivars

The purpose of this experiment was to determine how respiration of soybeans may respond to potential increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration and growth temperature. Three cultivars of soybeans (Glycine max L. Merr.), from maturity groups 00, IV, and VIII, were grown at 370, 555 and 740 cm(3) m(-3) carbon dioxide concentrations at 20/15, 25/20, and 31/26 degrees C day/night temperatures. Rates of carbon dioxide efflux in the dark were measured for whole plants several times during exponential growth. These measurements were made at the night temperature and the carbon dioxide concentra:ion at which the plants were grown. For the lowest and highest temperature treatments, the short term response of respiration rate to measurement at the three growth carbon dioxide concentrations was also determined. Elemental analysis of the tissue was used to estimate the growth conversion efficiency. This was combined with the observed relative growth rates to estimate growth respiration. Maintenance respiration was estimated as the difference between growth respiration and total respiration. Respiration rates were generally sensitive to short term changes in the measurement carbon dioxide concentration for plants grown at the lowest, but not the highest carbon dioxide concentration. At all temperatures, growth at elevated carbon dioxide concentrations decreased total respiration measured at the growth concentration, with no significant differences among cultivars. Total respiration increased very little with increasing growth temperature, despite an increase in relative growth rate. Growth respiration was not affected by carbon dioxide treatment at any temperature, but increased with temperature because of the increase in relative growth rare. Values calculated for maintenance respiration decreased with increasing carbon dioxide concentration and also decreased with increasing temperature. Calculated values of maintenance respiration were sometimes zero or negative at the warmer temperatures. This suggests that respiration rates measured in the dark may not have reflected average 24-h rates of energy use. The results indicate that increasing astmospheric carbon dioxide concentration may reduce respiration in soybeans, and respiration may be insensitive to climate warming. (C) 1996 Annals of Botany Company