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  1. Free, publicly-accessible full text available May 11, 2024
  2. Abstract

    The Soybean Free Air Concentration Enrichment (SoyFACE) facility is the longest running open-air carbon dioxide and ozone enrichment facility in the world. For over two decades, soybean, maize, and other crops have been exposed to the elevated carbon dioxide and ozone concentrations anticipated for late this century. The facility, located in East Central Illinois, USA, exposes crops to different atmospheric concentrations in replicated octagonal ~280 m2Free Air Concentration Enrichment (FACE) treatment plots. Each FACE plot is paired with an untreated control (ambient) plot. The experiment provides important ground truth data for predicting future crop productivity. Fumigation data from SoyFACE were collected every four seconds throughout each growing season for over two decades. Here, we organize, quality control, and collate 20 years of data to facilitate trend analysis and crop modeling efforts. This paper provides the rationale for and a description of the SoyFACE experiments, along with a summary of the fumigation data and collation process, weather and ambient data collection procedures, and explanations of air pollution metrics and calculations.

     
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  3. Abstract

    Climate change is a defining challenge of the 21st century, and this decade is a critical time for action to mitigate the worst effects on human populations and ecosystems. Plant science can play an important role in developing crops with enhanced resilience to harsh conditions (e.g. heat, drought, salt stress, flooding, disease outbreaks) and engineering efficient carbon-capturing and carbon-sequestering plants. Here, we present examples of research being conducted in these areas and discuss challenges and open questions as a call to action for the plant science community.

     
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  4. Abstract

    Free‐air CO2enrichment (FACE) experiments have elucidated how climate change affects plant physiology and production. However, we lack a predictive understanding of how climate change alters interactions between plants and endophytes, critical microbial mediators of plant physiology and ecology. We leveraged the SoyFACE facility to examine how elevated [CO2] affected soybean (Glycine max)leaf endophyte communities in the field. Endophyte community composition changed under elevated [CO2], including a decrease in the abundance of a common endophyte,Methylobacteriumsp. Moreover,Methylobacteriumabundance was negatively correlated with co‐occurring fungal endophytes. We then assessed howMethylobacteriumaffected the growth of co‐occurring endophytic fungi in vitro.Methylobacteriumantagonized most co‐occurring fungal endophytes in vitro, particularly when it was more established in culture before fungal introduction. Variation in fungal response toMethylobacteriumwithin a single fungal operational taxonomic unit (OTU) was comparable to inter‐OTU variation. Finally, fungi isolated from elevated vs. ambient [CO2] plots differed in colony growth and response toMethylobacterium, suggesting that increasing [CO2] may affect fungal traits and interactions within the microbiome. By combining in situ and in vitro studies, we show that elevated [CO2] decreases the abundance of a common bacterial endophyte that interacts strongly with co‐occurring fungal endophytes. We suggest that endophyte responses to global climate change will have important but largely unexplored implications for both agricultural and natural systems.

     
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