Contrasting acclimation abilities of two dominant boreal conifers to elevated CO₂ and temperature

High latitude forests will experience large changes in temperature and CO₂ concentrations this century. We evaluated the effects of future climate conditions on 2 dominant boreal tree species, Pinus sylvestris L. and Picea abies (L.) H. Karst, exposing seedlings to 3 seasons of ambient (430 ppm) or elevated CO₂ (750 ppm) and ambient temperatures, a + 4 °C warming or a + 8 °C warming. Pinus sylvestris responded positively to warming: seedlings developed a larger canopy, maintained high net CO₂ assimilation rates (A_net ), and acclimated dark respiration (R_dark ). In contrast, carbon fluxes in Picea abies were negatively impacted by warming: maximum rates of A_net decreased, electron transport was redirected to alternative electron acceptors, and thermal acclimation of R_dark was weak. Elevated CO₂ tended to exacerbate these effects in warm-grown Picea abies, and by the end of the experiment Picea abies from the +8 °C, high CO₂ treatment produced fewer buds than they had 3 years earlier. Treatments had little effect on leaf and wood anatomy. Our results highlight that species within the same plant functional type may show opposite responses to warming and imply that Picea abies may be particularly vulnerable to warming due to low plasticity in photosynthetic and respiratory metabolism.