Climatic changes are altering Earth's hydrological cycle, resulting in altered precipitation amounts, increased interannual variability of precipitation, and more frequent extreme precipitation events. These trends will likely continue into the future, having substantial impacts on net primary productivity ( NPP ) and associated ecosystem services such as food production and carbon sequestration. Frequently, experimental manip...

Atmospheric concentrations of methane ( CH 4 ) and nitrous oxide ( N 2 O ) have increased over the last 150 years because of human activity. Soils are important sources and sinks of both potent greenhouse gases where their production and consumption are largely regulated by biological processes. Climate change could alter these processes thereby affecting both rate and direction of their exchange with the atmosphere. We examin...

Summary Six open‐top chambers were installed on the shortgrass steppe in north‐eastern Colorado, USA from late March until mid‐October in 1997 and 1998 to evaluate how this grassland will be affected by rising atmospheric CO 2 . Three chambers were maintained at current CO 2 concentration (ambient treatment), three at twice ambient CO 2 , or approximately 720 μmol mol −1 (elevated treatment), and three nonchambered plots serve...