Summary

Between 1958 and 2008, the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere increased from 316 to 385 ppm. Continued increases in CO2 concentration will significantly affect long-term climate change, including variations in agricultural yields. Focusing on this critical issue, Elevated Carbon Dioxide: Impacts on Soil and Plant Water Relations presents research conducted on field-grown sorghum, winter wheat, and rangeland plants under elevated CO2. It describes specific results from pioneering experiments performed over a seven-year period in the Evapotranspiration Laboratory at Kansas State University, along with experiments appearing in peer-reviewed journal articles.

Select articles from the literature serve as examples in the text. For each paper discussed, the author includes the common and scientific name of the plant under investigation. For each experiment, the author provides the type of soil used (if given in the original article) and general conditions of the experiment. All references are carefully documented so that readers can easily find the original source.

The first chapter of the book deals with drought, the three types of photosynthesis, and how water moves through the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum. With a focus on soil, the next several chapters discuss the composition of the soil atmosphere, the interaction of elevated CO2 with physical factors that affect root growth, variable oxygen concentration of soil, and when the atmosphere above soil is elevated with CO2.

The author goes on to examine the use of carbon isotope ratios in plant science; the effects of elevated CO2 on plant water, osmotic, and turgor potentials; and stomata under elevated CO2, including stomatal conductance and density. The text also explains the effects of elevated CO2 on transpiration and evapotranspiration, explores historic

Choice Review

This meticulously detailed work describes the literature surrounding plant and soil response to drought and elevated CO[2. Topics include the effects on soil gas exchange and root growth, plant water potential, osmotic and turgor potential, stomatal conductance, stomatal density, evapotranspiration, water use efficiency, plant anatomy, phenology, growth, and yield. Kirkham (Kansas State Univ.) covers these subjects in relation to C[3, C[4, and CAM (crassulacean acid metabolism) photosynthetic systems over a wide range of cultivated and noncultivated herbaceous and woody plants. Attractive features are the frequent diversions to review the history and fundamental science behind topics under discussion. The volume includes brief biographies of persons of historical importance in the field at the end of each chapter, as well as over 200 high-quality figures. A major weakness is the lack of discussion of potential temperature interactions. The justification given in the final chapter to exclude temperature is misleading since the author presents projected temperature increases only in terms of global averages that are based on outdated or questionable references. The final discussion of projected crop yield response to elevated CO[2 under field conditions in the absence of temperature considerations is unfounded. Summing Up: Recommended. With reservations. Graduate students and researchers/faculty. J. R. Reeve Utah State University