Direct effects of increasing atmospheric CO(2) on plants and ecosystems.

The long-term effects of allowing the concentration of CO(2) in the global atmosphere to double by the middle of the next century are not yet predictable. However, it is inevitable that there will be a change in climatic and ecological patterns. Increasing the atmospheric C0(2) concentration under experimental conditions has been shown to alter the growth rate and reproductive potential of plants, and must ultimately affect interactions at the community level and beyond.