In situ short-term responses of Amazonian understory plants to elevated CO₂

The response of plants to increasing atmospheric CO₂ depends on the ecological context where the plants are found. Several experiments with elevated CO₂ (eCO₂) have been done worldwide, but the Amazonian forest understory has been neglected. As the central Amazon is limited by light and phosphorus, understanding how understory responds to eCO₂ is important for foreseeing how the forest will function in the future. In the understory of a natural forest in the Central Amazon, we installed four open-top chambers as control replicates and another four under eCO₂ (+250 ppm above ambient levels). Under eCO₂, we observed increases in carbon assimilation rate (67%), maximum electron transport rate (19%), quantum yield (56%), and water use efficiency (78%). We also detected an increase in leaf area (51%) and stem diameter increment (65%). Central Amazon understory responded positively to eCO₂ by increasing their ability to capture and use light and the extra primary productivity was allocated to supporting more leaf and conducting tissues. The increment in leaf area while maintaining transpiration rates suggests that the understory will increase its contribution to evapotranspiration. Therefore, this forest might be less resistant in the future to extreme drought, as no reduction in transpiration rates were detected.