Influence of Ozone Stress on Soybean Response to Carbon Dioxide Enrichment: II. Biomass and Development

Abstract

Previous research has shown that elevated CO2 concentrations can increase plant growth, whereas the air pollutant O3 is phytotoxic. Because elevated concentrations of these gases will co‐occur, the objective of our experiment was to determine if estimates of plant growth response to future levels of CO2 and O3 require experiments to test the gases in combination. Soybean plants [Glycine max (L.) Merr. cv. Essex) were exposed in open‐top chambers to combinations of O3 and CO2 from plant emergence through physiological maturity. Ozone treatments were charcoal‐filtered air (CF), nonfiltered air (NF), and NF with O3 added for 12 d−1 (NF+) (seasonal mean 12 d−1 O3 concentrations of 20, 50, or 79 nL L−1, respectively). Carbon dioxide exposures were for 24 h d−1 giving seasonal mean 12 d−1 concentrations of 370, 482, 599, or 713 μL L−1. Over the season, elevated CO2 usually stimulated growth and O3 suppressed growth. Elevated CO2 usually increased partitioning of biomass to branches, decreased partitioning to pods, increased specific leaf weight, and decreased leaf area ratio. Ozone suppressed leaf and root weight ratios, increased pod weight ratios, and decreased specific leaf weight. Toward the end of the season, both O3 and CO2 accelerated reproductive development. Elevated CO2 moderated suppression of growth by O3, and the highest CO2 concentration completely ameliorated O3 effects on main stem biomass, root biomass, and leaf area. Ozone, however, limited some positive growth responses to CO2, especially at less than a doubling of CO2 concentrations. These results indicate that in order to understand the future impacts of atmospheric gases such as elevated CO2 and O3 on crop growth, their combined effects should be determined.