Scientists find carbon-dioxide increase helps plants, hurts soil
By Greg Kline
Wednesday April 30, 2008
Robert K. O'Daniell
University of Illinois Professor Michelle Wander and graduate student Ariane Peralta display an auger used to collect soil samples in Wander's lab April 15 at Turner Hall on the UI campus in Urbana.
While problems including hotter temperatures and an increase in pest populations raise concern about the potential effects of global warming and climate change on plants, including corn and soybeans in East Central Illinois, there are supposed to be some advantages as well.
For instance, higher levels of carbon dioxide, which plants use to drive photosynthesis, the process by which they convert the energy from light to sugar to fuel their growth, could result in bigger crops, as well as benefit the soil by adding organic matter to it.
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