Boreal conifers maintain carbon uptake with warming despite failure to track optimal temperatures

M.E. Dusenge, J.M. Warren, Peter B. Reich, E.J. Ward, B.K. Murphy, A. Stefanski, R. Bermudez, M. Cruz, D.A. McLennan, A.W. King, R.A. Montgomery, P.J. Hanson, D.A. Way

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Warming shifts the thermal optimum of net photosynthesis (T optA) to higher temperatures. However, our knowledge of this shift is mainly derived from seedlings grown in greenhouses under ambient atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) conditions. It is unclear whether shifts in T optA of field-grown trees will keep pace with the temperatures predicted for the 21st century under elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Here, using a whole-ecosystem warming controlled experiment under either ambient or elevated CO2 levels, we show that T optA of mature boreal conifers increased with warming. However, shifts in T optA did not keep pace with warming as T optA only increased by 0.26–0.35 °C per 1 °C of warming. Net photosynthetic rates estimated at the mean growth temperature increased with warming in elevated CO2 spruce, while remaining constant in ambient CO2 spruce and in both ambient CO2 and elevated CO2 tamarack with warming. Although shifts in T optA of these two species are insufficient to keep pace with warming, these boreal conifers can thermally acclimate photosynthesis to maintain carbon uptake in future air temperatures.

Original languageEnglish
Article number4667
Number of pages11
JournalNature Communications
Volume14
Issue number1
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, Springer Nature Limited.

Open Access - Access Right Statement

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Boreal conifers maintain carbon uptake with warming despite failure to track optimal temperatures'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this