Plant Growth And Climate Change

Evidence grows daily of the changing climate and its impact on plants and animals. Plant function is inextricably linked to climate and atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration. On the shortest and smallest scales, the climate affects the plant’s immediate environment and so directly influences physiological processes. At larger scales, the climate influences species distribution and community composition, as well as the viability of different crops in managed ecosystems. Plant growth also influences the local, regional and global climate, through the exchanges of energy and gases between the plants and the air around them.

Plant Growth and Climate Change examines the major aspects of how anthropogenic climate change affects plants, focusing on several key determinants of plant growth: atmospheric CO2, temperature, water availability and the interactions between these factors. The book demonstrates the variety of techniques used across plant science: detailed physiology in controlled environments; observational studies based on long-term data sets; field manipulation experiments and modelling. It is directed at advanced-level university students, researchers and professionals across the range of plant science disciplines, including plant physiology, plant ecology and crop science. It will also be of interest to earth system scientists.

Dr James Morison, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Essex, UK

Dr Michael Morecroft, NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Wallingford, UK

List of Contributors.

Preface.

1. Recent and future climate change and its implications for plant growth.

David Viner, Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK, James I.L. Morison, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Essex, Colchester, UK and Craig Wallace, Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK.

2. Plant responses to rising atmospheric carbon dioxide.

Lewis H. Ziska and James A. Bunce, Crop Systems and Global Change, USDA-ARS, Beltsville, Maryland, USA.

3. The significance of temperature in plant life.

Christian Körner, Institute of Botany, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.

4. Temperature and plant development: phenology and seasonality.

Annette Menzel, Department of Ecology, Technical University of Munich, Germany and Tim Sparks, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Huntingdon, UK.

5. Responses of plant growth and functioning to changes in water supply in a changing climate.

William J. Davies, Department of Biological Sciences, Lancaster Environment Centre, University of Lancaster, UK.

6. Water availability and productivity.

João S. Pereira, Maria-Manuela Chaves, Maria-Conceição Caldeira and Alexandre V. Correia,m Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Lisboa, Portugal.

7. Effects of temperature and precipitation changes on plant communities.

M. D. Morecroft, NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Wallingford, UK and J.S. Paterson, Environmental Change Institute, Oxford University Centre for the Environment, Oxford, UK.

8. Issues in modelling plant ecosystem responses to elevated CO2: interactions with soil nitrogen.

Ying-Ping Wang, CSIRO Atmospheric Research, Aspendale, Victoria, Australia and Ross McMurtrie, Belinda Medlyn and David Pepper, School of Biological Sciences, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.

9. Predicting the effect of climate change on global plant productivity and the carbon cycle.

John Grace & Rui Zhang, Institute of Atmospheric and Environmental Science, School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, UK.

References.

Index