Impact of elevated CO2 concentration under three soil water levels on growth of Cinnamomum camphora.

Forest plays very important roles in global system with about 35% land area producing about 70% of total land net production. It is important to consider both elevated CO(2) concentrations and different soil moisture when the possible effects of elevated CO(2) concentration on trees are assessed. In this study, we grew Cinnamomum camphora seedlings under two CO(2) concentrations (350 micromol/mol and 500 micromol/mol) and three soil moisture levels [80%, 60% and 40% FWC (field water capacity)] to focus on the effects of exposure of trees to elevated CO(2) on underground and aboveground plant growth, and its dependence on soil moisture. The results indicated that high CO(2) concentration has no significant effects on shoot height but significantly impacts shoot weight and ratio of shoot weight to height under three soil moisture levels. The response of root growth to CO(2) enrichment is just reversed, there are obvious effects on root length growth, but no effects on root weight growth and ratio of root weight to length. The CO(2) enrichment decreased 20.42%, 32.78%, 20.59% of weight ratio of root to shoot under 40%, 60% and 80% FWC soil water conditions, respectively. And elevated CO(2) concentration significantly increased the water content in aboveground and underground parts. Then we concluded that high CO(2) concentration favours more tree aboveground biomass growth than underground biomass growth under favorable soil water conditions. And CO(2) enrichment enhanced lateral growth of shoot and vertical growth of root. The responses of plants to elevated CO(2) depend on soil water availability, and plants may benefit more from CO(2) enrichment with sufficient water supply.