Interactive effects of elevated CO2 and temperature on the anatomical characteristics of leaves in eleven species

Abstract

The anatomical features of leaves in 11 species of plants grown in a temperature gradient and a temperature+CO₂ gradient were studied. The palisade parenchyma thickness, the spongy parenchyma thickness and the total leaf thickness were measured and analyzed to investigate the effects of elevated temperature and CO₂ on the anatomical characteristics of the leaves. Our results show that with the increase of temperature, the leaf thickness of C₄ species increased while the leaf thickness of C₃ species showed no constant changes. With increased CO₂, seven out of nine C₃ species exhibited increased total leaf thickness. In C₄ species, leaf thickness decreased. As for the trend on the multi-grades, the plants exhibited linear or non-linear changes. With the increase of temperature or both temperature and CO₂ for the 11 species investigated, leaf thickness varied greatly in different plants (species) and even in different branches on the same plant. These results demonstrated that the effect of increasing CO₂ and temperature on the anatomical features of the leaves were species-specific. Since plant structures are correlated with plant functions, the changes in leaf anatomical characteristics in elevated temperature and CO₂ may lead to functional differences.