Response of soil biota to elevated atmospheric CO 2 in poplar model systems

Abstract

We tested the hypotheses that increased belowground allocation of carbon by hybrid poplar saplings grown under elevated atmospheric CO 2 would increase mass or turnover of soil biota in bulk but not in rhizosphere soil. Hybrid poplar saplings ( Populus × euramericana cv. Eugenei) were grown for 5 months in open-bottom root boxes at the University of Michigan Biological Station in northern, lower Michigan. The experimental design was a randomized-block design with factorial combinations of high or low soil N and ambient (34 Pa) or elevated (69 Pa) CO 2 in five blocks. Rhizosphere microbial biomass carbon was 1.7 times greater in high-than in low-N soil, and did not respond to elevated CO 2 . The density of protozoa did not respond to soil N but increased marginally ( P < 0.06) under elevated CO 2 . Only in high-N soil did arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and microarthropods respond to CO 2 . In high-N soil, arbuscular mycorrhizal root mass was twice as great, and extramatrical hyphae were 11% longer in elevated than in ambient CO 2 treatments. Microarthropod density and activity were determined in situ using minirhizotrons. Microarthropod density did not change in response to elevated CO 2 , but in high-N soil, microarthropods were more strongly associated with fine roots under elevated than ambient treatments. Overall, in contrast to the hypotheses, the strongest response to elevated atmospheric CO 2 was in the rhizosphere where (1) unchanged microbial biomass and greater numbers of protozoa ( P < 0.06) suggested faster bacterial turnover, (2) arbuscular mycorrhizal root length increased, and (3) the number of microarthropods observed on fine roots rose.