Climate Change Effects on Long Term Plant Growth in Arizona

Climate change around the world is not predicted to be uniform. Most places will get warmer, some will get more rain and others will get less. For areas of Arizona, warmer temperatures are expected to provide a boost in plant growth caused by a longer growing season and more carbon dioxide in the air. However, a new study from Northern Arizona University suggests the contrary. Warming temperatures will cause an initial boost in plant growth, but will quickly diminish over the years. This may lead to significant deterioration in future plant growth. Ecologists who took part in the study, subjected four grassland ecosystems to simulated climate change during the 10 year study. The first year witnessed a boost in plant growth, followed by nine years of progressively diminished plant growth until growth actually disappeared. A key finding was the role that the nitrogen cycle played. The warmer climates caused the nitrogen to cycle more quickly. Much of the nitrogen, rather than being available for plants, was washed away by rainfall, or converted to nitrogen gas and released into the atmosphere.