Phytochemical changes in leaves of subtropical grasses and fynbos shrubs at elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations

The effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations on plant polyphenolic, tannin, nitrogen, phosphorus and total nonstructural carbohydrate concentrations were investigated in leaves of subtropical grass and fynbos shrub species. The hypothesis tested was that carbon-based secondary compounds would increase when carbon gain is in excess of growth requirements. This premise was tested in two ecosystems involving plants with different photosynthetic mechanisms and growth strategies. The first ecosystem comprised grasses from a C4-dominated, subtropical grassland, where three plots were subjected to three different free air CO2 enrichment treatments, i.e., elevated (600 to 800 μmol mol−1), intermediate (400 μmol mol−1) and ambient atmospheric CO2. One of the seven grass species, Alloteropsis semialata, had a C3 photosynthetic pathway while the other grasses were all C4. The second ecosystem was simulated in a microcosm experiment where three fynbos species were grown in open-top chambers at ambient and 700 μmol mol−1 atmospheric CO2 in low nutrient acid sands typical of south western coastal and mountain fynbos ecosystems. Results showed that polyphenolics and tannins did not increase in the grass species under elevated CO2 and only in Leucadendron laureolum among the fynbos species. Similarly, foliar nitrogen content of grasses was largely unaffected by elevated CO2, and among the fynbos species, only L. laureolum and Leucadendron xanthoconus showed changes in foliar nitrogen content under elevated CO2, but these were of different magnitude. The overall decrease in nitrogen and phosphorus and consequent increase in C:N and C:P ratio in both ecosystems, along with the increase in polyphenolics and tannins in L. laureolum in the fynbos ecosystem, may negatively affect forage quality and decomposition rates. It is concluded that fast growing grasses do not experience sink limitation and invest extra carbon into growth rather than polyphenolics and tannins and show small species-specific chemical changes at elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Responses of fynbos species are varied and were species-specific.