Elevated Carbon Dioxide：Impacts on Soil and Plant Water Relations

Kirkham (crop physiology and soil plant water relations, Kansas State U.) presents information derived from research at the Evapotranspiration Laboratory from 1984 and 1991 with field-grown sorghum, winter wheat, and rangeland plants under elevated levels of carbon dioxide. He predicts with some confidence how plants will react as the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere continues to rise. Much of the material is used in his graduate class. It does not deal with other environmental issues such as rising temperature, or nutrient depletion. Among the findings are variable oxygen concentration and root growth, stomatal conductance, water use efficiency, plant anatomy, and yield and growth. Annotation c2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

M.B. Kirkham is a professor in the Department of Agronomy at Kansas State University. Dr. Kirkham is an editorial board member of several journals, including Crop Science and Soil Science. Dr. Kirkham has authored or co-authored over 200 articles in scientific journals and has been a recipient of the Carl Sprengel Agronomic Research Award of the American Society of Agronomy and the Crop Science Research Award of the Crop Science Society of America. Kirkham is a graduate of Wellesley College, Massachusetts, USA.