- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10050408
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Limnology and Oceanography
- Volume:
- 63
- Issue:
- 3
- ISSN:
- 0024-3590
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1407 to 1424
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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PREMISE Biological invasions increasingly threaten native biodiversity and ecosystem services. One notable example is the common reed,
Phragmites australis , which aggressively invades North American salt marshes. Elevated atmospheric CO2and nitrogen pollution enhance its growth and facilitate invasion becauseP. australis responds more strongly to these enrichments than do native species. We investigated how modifications to stomatal features contribute to strong photosynthetic responses to CO2and nitrogen enrichment inP. australis by evaluating stomatal shifts under experimental conditions and relating them to maximal stomatal conductance (g wmax) and photosynthetic rates.METHODS Plants were grown
in situ in open‐top chambers under ambient and elevated atmospheric CO2(eCO2) and porewater nitrogen (Nenr) in a Chesapeake Bay tidal marsh. We measured light‐saturated carbon assimilation rates (A sat) and stomatal characteristics, from which we calculatedg wmaxand determined whether CO2and Nenraltered the relationship betweeng wmaxandA sat.RESULTS eCO2and Nenrenhanced both
g wmaxandA sat, but to differing degrees;g wmaxwas more strongly influenced by Nenrthrough increases in stomatal density whileA satwas more strongly stimulated by eCO2. There was a positive relationship betweeng wmaxandA satthat was not modified by eCO2or Nenr, individually or in combination.CONCLUSIONS Changes in stomatal features co‐occur with previously described responses of
P. australis to eCO2and Nenr. Complementary responses of stomatal length and density to these global change factors may facilitate greater stomatal conductance and carbon gain, contributing to the invasiveness of the introduced lineage.