Ecology 7th Edition by Manuel Molles

Exercise 9

In chapter 7, we emphasized how the C 4 photosynthetic pathway saves water, but some researchers suggest that the greatest advantage of C 4 over C 3 plants occurs when CO₂ concentrations are low. What is the advantage of the C 4 pathway when CO₂ concentrations are low As we shall see in chapter 23, the atmospheric concentration of CO₂ has been increasing for the last century or so. If this trend continues, and if the interactions between C 4 and C 3 plants are influenced by atmospheric CO₂ concentrations, how might the geographic distributions of C 3 and C 4 plants change