Symbiotic N2 fixation in a high Alpine grassland: effects of four growing seasons of elevated CO2

1. Increasing carbon dioxide concentration (E: 680 μl CO₂ litre^–1vs ambient, A: 355 μl CO₂ litre^–1) around late-successional Alpine sedge communities of the Swiss Central Alps (2450 m) for four growing seasons (1992–1995) had no detectable effect on symbiotic N₂ fixation in Trifolium alpinum—the sole N₂-fixing plant species in these communities (74 ± 30 mg N m^–2 year^–1, A and E plots pooled).

2. This result is based on data collected in the fourth growing season showing that elevated CO₂ had no effect on Trifolium above-ground biomass (4·4 ± 1·7 g m^–2, A and E plots pooled, n = 24) or N content per unit land area (124 ± 51 mg N m^–2, A and E pooled), or on the percentage of N Trifolium derived from the atmosphere through symbiotic N₂ fixation (%Ndfa: 61·0 ± 4·1 across A and E plots) estimated using the ¹⁵N dilution method.

3. Thus, it appears that N inputs to this ecosystem via symbiotic N₂ fixation will not be dramatically affected in the foreseeable future even as atmospheric CO₂ continues to rise.