Effects of a natural source of very high CO₂ concentration on the leaf gas exchange, xylem water potential and stomatal characteristics of plants of Spatiphylum cannifolium and Bauhinia multinervia

Abstract

The effect of a very high CO₂ mole fraction (27000–35000 μmol mol⁻¹) on photosynthesis and water relations was studied during the dry and the rainy season in plants of Spatiphylum cannifolium (Dryand.) Schott and Bauhinia multinervia (H.B.K.) DC. growing near natural cold CO₂ springs. Xylem water potential in plants of both species was lowered by drought, high CO₂ growth-concentration decreasing it further in S. cannifolium. In plants of both species growing under high CO₂ concentration photosynthetic rates measured at a CO₂ mole fraction of 1000 μmol mol⁻¹ were higher than in plants growing at ambient CO₂ mole fraction and measured at 350 μmol mol⁻¹. The response was the result of a direct effect of CO₂ on the photosynthetic machinery. Changes in carboxylation efficiency in response to high CO₂ were found during the rainy season, with an increase in S. cannifolium and a decrease in B. multinervia; a significant interaction between growth CO₂ concentration and season in B. multinervia resulted from significant effects of both factors. An increase in intrinsic water-use efficiency due to high CO₂ was determined in both species by an increase in photosynthetic rate as well as a decrease in leaf conductance. In high-CO₂ plants of S. cannifolium a 71% decrease in stomatal density and 73% in stomatal index suggested that CO₂ affected stomatal initiation, whereas in B. multinervia an 85% decrease in stomatal index and a 72% decrease in stomatal density indicated that CO₂ influenced stomatal initiation as well as epidermal cell expansion. Our results indicate that very high CO₂ concentrations did not inhibit photosynthesis in these species, and that growth under high CO₂ allowed plants to attain carbon balances higher than those of plants growing under low CO₂. This was particularly so during the dry season, since the photosynthetic rates at the corresponding ambient concentration were higher in plants nearer the springs, and carboxylation efficiency and some stomatal characteristics of both species apparently acclimated to high CO₂, but patterns were not consistent and bore no obvious relationship to photosynthetic capacity.