Abstract
The Free Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE) system has proved suitable for exposing plants to elevated [CO2] with minimal disturbance of their natural environment. Here we describe a FACE facility in a floodplain wetland in detail and, additionally, its performance after the first year of operation (2012). The FACE system consisted of six 3-m diameter emission rings in which Phragmitesaustralis was grown. The target [CO2] was 550 μmol mol−1 and fertilization was carried out continuously. Daily temporal [CO2] performance was adequate with 61 and 83 % of air samples at the ring’s centre having a [CO2] within 10 and 20 % of the target, respectively, with values closest to their target during summer months and daytime. Spatial [CO2] distribution showed no significant gradients across the ring. Increased wind speed improved the system’s spatial performance, as [CO2] was within ±10 % of the target in the whole ring. Across the entire fertilization season, CO2 requirements for maintaining a mean [CO2] of 582 μmol mol−1 in wetland plots averaged 17.4 kg CO2 ring−1 day−1. Our requirements (2.5 kg CO2 m−2 day−1) were very low compared to other FACE systems, demonstrating its high potential to study the effects of elevated CO2 in wetlands at low cost.
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