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Updated: Aug 10, 2026

A CO2 Concentration Gradient Facility for Testing CO2 Enrichment and Soil Effects on Grassland Ecosystem Function
Published on: November 21, 2015
Evidence that elevated CO2 levels can indirectly increase rhizosphere denitrifier activity
D R Smart1, K Ritchie, J M Stark
1Department of Vegetable Crops, University of California, Davis 95616, USA.
Abstract:
We examined the influence of elevated CO2 concentration on denitrifier enzyme activity in wheat rhizoplanes by using controlled environments and solution culture techniques. Potential denitrification activity was from 3 to 24 times higher on roots that were grown under an elevated CO2 concentration of 1,000 micromoles of CO2 mol-1 than on roots grown under ambient levels of CO2. Nitrogen loss, as determined by a nitrogen mass balance, increased with elevated CO2 levels in the shoot environment and with a high NO3- concentration in the rooting zone. These results indicated that aerial CO2 concentration can play a role in rhizosphere denitrifier activity.
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