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The effects of elevated pCO2 on net ecosystem CO2 exchange were investigated in managed Lolium perenne (perennial ryegrass) and Trifolium repens (white clover) monocultures that had been exposed continuously to elevated pCO2 (60 Pa) for nine growing seasons using Free Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE) technology. Two levels of nitrogen (N) fertilization were applied. Midday net ecosystem CO2 exchange (mNEE) and night-time ecosystem respiration (NER) were measured in three growing seasons using an open-flow chamber system. The annual net ecosystem carbon (C) input resulting from the net CO2 fluxes was estimated for one growing season. In both monocultures and at both levels of N supply, elevated pCO2 stimulated mNEE by up to 32%, the exact amount depending on intercepted PAR. The response of mNEE to elevated pCO2 was larger than that of harvestable biomass. Elevated pCO2 increased NER by up to 39% in both species at both levels of N supply. NER, which was affected by mNEE of the preceding day, was higher in T. repens than in L. perenne. High N increased NER compared to low N supply. According to treatment, the annual net ecosystem C input ranged between 210 and 631 g C m - -2 year -1 and was not significantly affected by the level of pCO2. Low N supply led to a higher net C input than high N supply. We demonstrated that at the ecosystem level, there was a long-term stimulation in the net C assimilation during daytime by elevated pCO2. However, because NER was also stimulated, net ecosystem C input was not significantly increased at elevated pCO2. The annual net ecosystem C input was primarily affected by the amount of N supplied.

Effects of free-air carbon dioxide enrichment (FACE, 60 Pa pCO2) on plant growth as compared with ambient pCO2 (36 Pa) were studied in swards of Lolium perenne L. (perennial ryegrass) at two levels of N fertilization (14 and 56 g m−2 a−1) from 1993 to 2002. The objectives were to determine how plant growth responded to the availability of C and N in the long term and how the supply of N to the plant from the two sources of N in the soil, soil organic matter (SOM) and mineral fertilizer, varied over time. In three field experiments, 15N-labelled fertilizer was used to distinguish the sources of available N. In 1993, harvestable biomass under elevated pCO2 was 7% higher than under ambient pCO2. This relative pCO2 response increased to 32% in 2002 at high N, but remained low at low N. Between 1993 and 2002, the proportions and amounts of N in harvestable biomass derived from SOM (excluding remobilized fertilizer) were, at high N, increasingly higher at elevated pCO2 than at ambient pCO2. Two factorial experiments confirmed that at high N, but not at low N, a higher proportion of N in harvestable biomass was derived from soil (including remobilized fertilizer) following 7 and 9 years of elevated pCO2, when compared with ambient pCO2. It is suggested that N availability in the soil initially limited the pCO2 response of harvestable biomass. At high N, the limitation of plant growth decreased over time as a result of the stimulated mobilization of N from soil, especially from SOM. Consequently, harvestable biomass increasingly responded to elevated pCO2. The underlying mechanisms which contributed to the increased mobilization of N from SOM under elevated pCO2 are discussed. This study demonstrated that there are feedback mechanisms in the soil which are only revealed during long-term field experiments. Such investigations are thus, a prerequisite for understanding the responses of ecosystems to elevated pCO2 and N supply.