Fine-root production dominates response of a deciduous forest to atmospheric CO2 enrichment

Fine-root production and turnover are important regulators of the biogeochemical cycles of ecosystems and key components of their response to global change. We present a nearly continuous 6-year record of fine-root production and mortality from minirhizotron analysis of a closed-canopy, deciduous sweetgum forest in a free-air CO2 enrichment experiment. Annual production of fine roots was more than doubled in plots with 550 ppm CO2 compared with plots in ambient air. This response was the primary component of the sustained 22% increase in net primary productivity. Annual fine-root mortality matched annual production, and the mean residence time of roots was not altered by elevated CO2, but peak fine-root standing crop in midsummer was significantly higher in CO2-enriched plots, especially deeper in the soil profile. The preferential allocation of additional carbon to fine roots, which have a fast turnover rate in this species, rather than to stemwood reduces the possibility of long-term enhancement by elevated CO2 of carbon sequestration in biomass. However, sequestration of some of the fine-root carbon in soil pools is not precluded, and there may be other benefits to the tree from a seasonally larger and deeper fine-root system. Root-system dynamics can explain differences among ecosystems in their response to elevated atmospheric CO2; hence, accurate assessments of carbon flux and storage in forests in a globally changing atmosphere must account for this unseen and difficult-to-measure component.