Does Soil Nitrogen Availability Limit Ecosystem Productivity Response to Atmospheric CO2 Enrichment?
Reference Cannell, M.G.R. and Thornley, J.H.M. 2003. Ecosystem productivity is independent of some soil properties at equilibrium. Plant and Soil 257: 193-204. Background It is periodically suggested that lack of soil nitrogen will limit the productivity responses of various ecosystems to the ongoing rise in the air’s CO2 content [see, for example, our Journal Reviews of Finzi and Schlesinger (2003) and Schafer et al. (2003) with respect to forests]. Is this idea correct? What was done In a study not specifically designed to answer this question (but clearly qualified to broach it), Cannell and Thornley changed the nitrogen mineralization constants in the Edinburgh Forest Model to study the effects this action would have on net primary productivity (NPP) and a variety of other ecosystem properties. What was learned The authors found that given enough time, “modeled ecosystems tend to generate amounts of soil organic matter that are able to supply nitrogen at rates which do not greatly
