title: Ecosystem assembly and terrestrial carbon balance under elevated CO(2).
abstract: Research aimed at understanding how the global carbon balance will change with elevated CO(2) has largely ignored the responses of individual species and genotypes. Yet, plant traits strongly influence the biogeochemical cycling of carbon. Here, we illustrate how differences in inter- and intraspecific responses to elevated CO(2) affect not only physiology and growth, but also higher order biotic interactions and lifetime fitness, ultimately leading to new ecosystem assemblages. We assert that the unique combination of inter- and intraspecific traits in these ecosystem assemblages ultimately determine how ecosystems respond to elevated atmospheric CO(2). Thus, the identity of species and genotypes in an ecosystem is a crucial element to consider in forecasts of global carbon balance.
authors.affiliation: Ecosystem Science Center, School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, Michigan Technological University, 1400 Townsend Drive, Houghton, MI 49931, USA.
authors.forename: Kate L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Bradley
authors.forename: Kurt S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Pregitzer
mesh_terms: D002244:Carbon / Q000378:metabolism*; D017753:Ecosystem; D005838:Genotype; D018521:Plant Physiological Phenomena
chemical_list: D002244:Carbon