The effect of elevated CO2 concentration on grapevine growth under field conditions.

There is an increasing scientific interest in the effects of elevated CO2 concentration on both cultivated and natural ecosystems. The possibility, however, to predict plant responses to elevated atmospheric CO2 will mainly depend on the capability to simulate future atmospheric conditions in free enrichment experiments. To quantify the growth and yield responses to CO2 enrichment a grapevine variety (cv Sangiovese) was exposed throughout the growing season to two CO2 concentrations (ambient and 700 ppmv) in a free air carbon dioxide enrichment (FACE) system which allowed to fumigate vineyard rows and to keep CO2 concentration constant on these. The results showed that growth and yield of plants exposed to elevated CO2 concentrations were increased in comparison with those in ambient CO2 concentration.