Stomatal responses of the ‘living fossil’ Ginkgo biloba L. to changes in atmospheric CO2 concentrations

• Published in: Journal of experimental botany Vol. 49; no. 326; pp. 1603 - 1607
• Main Authors: Beerling, D.J., McElwain, J.C., Osborne, C.P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Oxford University Press 01-09-1998
• Subjects: Agricultural and forest climatology and meteorology. Irrigation. Drainage; Agricultural and forest meteorology; Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; Biological and medical sciences; Climatic adaptation. Acclimatization; elevated CO2; fossils; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; gas exchange; General agronomy. Plant production; Stomata; Mesozoic; Carbon dioxide; Fossil; Stomata; Plant leaf; Coniferous ornamental tree; Density; Time variation; Ginkgo biloba; Medium enrichment; Gymnospermae; Ginkgoales; Spermatophyta; Gas exchange
• ISSN: 0022-0957; 1460-2431
• DOI: 10.1093/jxb/49.326.1603

Leaf stomatal density and index of Ginkgo biloba L. were both significantly (P<0.05) reduced after 3 years growth at elevated CO2 (560 ppm), with values comparable to those of cuticles prepared from Triassic and Jurassic fossil Ginkgo leaves thought to have developed in the high CO2 ‘greenhouse world’ of the Mesozoic. A reciprocal transfer experiment indicated that reductions in stomatal density and index irreversibly reduced stomatal conductance, particularly at low leaf-to-air vapour pressure deficits and low internal leaf CO2 concentrations (Ci). These effects probably contributed to the high water-use efficiency of Ginkgo spp. in the Mesozoic relative to those of the present, as determined from carbon isotope measurements of extant and fossil cuticles.