Plenary and Invited Papers Section 2: Grassland & the Environment
Description
Key points
1. Increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration and a trend to warmer mean temperatures are the most reliable aspects of global atmospheric change. Projections of the extent of climate change and the frequency of extreme weather conditions remain uncertain.
2. Research has considerably reduced the uncertainty about effects of global atmospheric change on physiology of plants, productivity and species composition of plant communities.
3. Other factors (e.g. nutrient availability, soil type) and long-term adaptation of the ecosystem (e.g. nutrient cycling and sequestration) influence the response of plant communities to global atmospheric change. Generalisation is not possible with respect to the response of different pasture and rangeland systems.
4. In temperate grasslands with regular fertilisation and defoliation, the effects of elevated CO2 may be smaller than those of climate and/or management. Adaptations in management can help to mitigate effects of global atmospheric change.
Included in
Global Atmospheric Change and Its Effect on Managed Grassland Systems
Key points
1. Increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration and a trend to warmer mean temperatures are the most reliable aspects of global atmospheric change. Projections of the extent of climate change and the frequency of extreme weather conditions remain uncertain.
2. Research has considerably reduced the uncertainty about effects of global atmospheric change on physiology of plants, productivity and species composition of plant communities.
3. Other factors (e.g. nutrient availability, soil type) and long-term adaptation of the ecosystem (e.g. nutrient cycling and sequestration) influence the response of plant communities to global atmospheric change. Generalisation is not possible with respect to the response of different pasture and rangeland systems.
4. In temperate grasslands with regular fertilisation and defoliation, the effects of elevated CO2 may be smaller than those of climate and/or management. Adaptations in management can help to mitigate effects of global atmospheric change.
