Andropogon Gerardii effect on the response of other species to multiple global changes

作者：Peter B. Reich, Kally Worm, Sarah E. Hobbie, Zhong Wang · 发表于：Open MIND · 年份：2026 · DOI：10.6073/pasta/01271aabbfb49daeeb79d762880798a7 · 研究领域：Environmental science、Ecology、Agronomy、Biology

BioCON (Biodiversity, CO2, and Nitrogen) is an ecological experiment started in 1997 at the University of Minnesota's Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve. BioCON's goal is to explore the ways in which plant communities will respond to three environmental changes that are known to be occurring on a global scale: increasing nitrogen deposition, increasing atmospheric CO2, and decreasing biodiversity. Why Biodiversity, CO2, and Nitrogen? While there are many uncertainties in global change biology, there are also some well documented facts. Some of these are: 1. The amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere is rising. Since the industrial revolution, the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere has increased from approximately 275 parts per million (ppm) to about 378 ppm today. This has been largely the result of fossil fuel burning. It is expected that CO2 levels will continue to rise, and that by the year 2050 these levels will be approximately 550 ppm. CO2 is the raw material for photosynthesis and is known to affect plant growth and development. 2. The amount of nitrogen moving through terrestrial ecosystems has increased in the recent past. While natural "background" levels of nitrogen fixation have remained constant, human additions to the system through fertilizer production and fossil fuel use have increased dramatically. Nitrogen is a key nutrient for plant growth and plays a critical role in plant community structure and composition in many environments. 3. Biodiver...