It has been hypothesized that greater production of total nonstructural carbohydrates (TNC) in foliage grown under elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) will result in higher concentrations of defensive compounds in tree leaf litter, possibly leading to reduced rates of decomposition and nutrient cycling in forest ecosystems of the future. To evaluate the effects of elevated atmospheric CO2on litter chemistry and decomposition, we performed a 111 day laboratory incubation with leaf litter of trembling aspen (Populus tremuloidesMichaux) produced at 36\uffe2\uff80\uff83Pa and 56\uffe2\uff80\uff83Pa CO2and two levels of soil nitrogen (N) availability. Decomposition was quantified as microbially respired CO2and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in soil solution, and concentrations of nonstructural carbohydrates, N, carbon (C), and condensed tannins were monitored throughout the incubation. Growth under elevated atmospheric CO2did not significantly affect initial litter concentrations of TNC, N, or condensed tannins. Rates of decomposition, measured as both microbially respired CO2and DOC did not differ between litter produced under ambient and elevated CO2. Total C lost from the samples was 38\uffe2\uff80\uff83mg\uffe2\uff80\uff83g\uffe2\uff88\uff921litter as respired CO2and 138\uffe2\uff80\uff83mg\uffe2\uff80\uff83g\uffe2\uff88\uff921litter as DOC, suggesting short\uffe2\uff80\uff90term pulses of dissolved C in soil solution are important components of the terrestrial C cycle. We conclude that litter chemistry and decomposition in trembling aspen are minimally affected by growth under higher concentrations of CO2.
", "keywords": ["Ecology and Evolutionary Biology", "carbohydrates", "Quaking aspen", "forest-soil", "litter-plant", "nitrogen", "nitrogen-", "Microlysimeter", "soil-chemistry", "cycling-", "populus-tremuloides", "Geology and Earth Sciences", "Soil Carbon", "Microbiology of soils", "Carbon cycle", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "GLOBAL-ECOLOGY", "chemical-composition", "Organic-matter", "soil-solution", "nutrient-availability", "Tannin", "leaf-litter", "Science", "decomposition-", "Nutrient enrichment", "Carbohydrates", "carbohydrates-", "respiration-", "carbon-dioxide-enrichment", "Nitrogen in soil", "michigan-", "carbon sinks", "C", "Nutrient budget of forests", "Litter", "Populus tremuloides", "Global Change", "tannins-", "Decomposition", "forest-litter", "Foliage", "Carbon dioxide effects on forest litter", "Climatic changes", "15. Life on land", "carbon-nitrogen-ratio", "Forest litter decomposition", "N Ratio", "13. Climate action", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "microbial-activities", "nitrogen-content"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2486.2001.00388.x"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Global%20Change%20Biology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1046/j.1365-2486.2001.00388.x", "name": "item", "description": "10.1046/j.1365-2486.2001.00388.x", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1046/j.1365-2486.2001.00388.x"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2001-01-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1046/j.1365-2745.1998.00278.x", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-25T16:18:00Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2003-05-21", "title": "An Experimental Test Of Limits To Tree Establishment In Arctic Tundra", "description": "1 Five treeline species had low seed germination rates and low survivorship and growth of seedlings when transplanted into Alaskan tundra. Seed germination of all species increased with experimental warming, suggesting that the present treeline may in part result from unsuccessful recruitment under cold conditions.
2 Growth, biomass and survivorship of seedlings of treeline species transplanted into tundra were largely unaffected by experimental warming. However, transplanted seedlings of three species (Betula papyrifera, Picea glauca and Populus tremuloides) grew more when below\uffe2\uff80\uff90ground competition with the extant community was reduced. All three measures of transplant performance were greater in shrub tundra than in the less productive tussock or heath tundra. Establishment of trees in tundra may thus be prevented by low resource availability and competition.
3 Two species (Alnus crispa and Populus balsamifera) had low seed germination and survivorship of germinated seeds; transplants of these species did not respond to the manipulations and lost biomass following transplanting into tundra. Isolated populations of these two species north of the present treeline in arctic Alaska probably became established during mid\uffe2\uff80\uff90Holocene warming rather than in recent times.
4 Of all the species studied here, Picea glauca was the most likely to invade intact upland tundra. Its seeds had the highest germination rates and it was the only species whose seedlings survived subsequently. Furthermore, transplanted seedlings of Picea glauca had relatively high survivorship and positive growth in tundra, especially in treatments that increased air temperature or nutrient availability, two factors likely to increase with climate warming.
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