Carbon balance in a monospecific stand of an annual herb Chenopodium album at an elevated CO2 concentration

Elevated CO2 enhances carbon uptake of a plant stand, but the magnitude of the increase varies among growth stages. We studied the relative contribution of structural and physiological factors to the CO2 effect on the carbon balance during stand development. Stands of an annual herb Chenopodium album were established in open-top chambers at ambient and elevated CO2 concentrations (370 and 700 μmol mol−1). Plant biomass growth, canopy structural traits (leaf area, leaf nitrogen distribution, and light gradient in the canopy), and physiological characteristics (leaf photosynthesis and respiration of organs) were studied through the growing season. CO2 exchange of the stand was estimated with a canopy photosynthesis model. Rates of light-saturated photosynthesis and dark respiration of leaves as related with nitrogen content per unit leaf area and time-dependent reduction in specific respiration rates of stems and roots were incorporated into the model. Daily canopy carbon balance, calculated as an integration of leaf photosynthesis minus stem and root respiration, well explained biomass growth determined by harvests (r2 = 0.98). The increase of canopy photosynthesis with elevated CO2 was 80% at an early stage and decreased to 55% at flowering. Sensitivity analyses suggested that an alteration in leaf photosynthetic traits enhanced canopy photosynthesis by 40–60% throughout the experiment period, whereas altered canopy structure contributed to the increase at the early stage only. Thus, both physiological and structural factors are involved in the increase of carbon balance and growth rate of C. album stands at elevated CO2. However, their contributions were not constant, but changed with stand development.