Mycorrhizal association as a primary control of the CO 2 fertilization effect

Plants buffer increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations through enhanced growth, but the question whether nitrogen availability constrains the magnitude of this ecosystem service remains unresolved. Synthesizing experiments from around the world, we show that CO2 fertilization is best explained by a simple interaction between nitrogen availability and mycorrhizal association. Plant species that associate with ectomycorrhizal fungi show a strong biomass increase (30 ± 3%, P

• BA
  Biological and Environmental Research
• HE
  H2020 European Research Council

  Award: ERC-SyG-610028 IMBALANCE-P