title: Capacity of old trees to respond to environmental change.
abstract: Atmospheric carbon dioxide [CO2] has increased dramatically within the current life spans of long-lived trees and old forests. Consider that a 500-year-old tree in the early twenty-first century has spent 70% of its life growing under pre-industrial levels of [CO2], which were 30% lower than current levels. Here we address the question of whether old trees have already responded to the rapid rise in [CO2] occurring over the past 150 years. In spite of limited data, aging trees have been shown to possess a substantial capacity for increased net growth after a period of post-maturity growth decline. Observations of renewed growth and physiological function in old trees have, in some instances, coincided with Industrial Age increases in key environmental resources, including [CO2], suggesting the potential for continued growth in old trees as a function of continued global climate change.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Plant and Food Science, University of Western Sydney, Richmond NSW 2753, Australia. nathan@bu.edu
authors.forename: Nathan G
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Phillips
authors.forename: Thomas N
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Buckley
authors.forename: David T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Tissue
mesh_terms: D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000633:toxicity*; D002980:Climate; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D013997:Time Factors; D014197:Trees / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development*
chemical_list: D002245:Carbon Dioxide