Increased CO2 Making Life Better On The High Plains

In 2005, Morgan and teams of scientists from Colorado State University and the University of Wyoming set out to simulate climate change on tiny plots of grassland at the USDA High Plains Grassland Research Station near Cheyenne by testing how grasses and weeds in the area react to higher levels of carbon dioxide and greater heat.

The results, so far, point to some good news for cattle growers in a changing climate, he said.

Morgan’s team has found that increased carbon dioxide levels increase the efficiency of how plants use water, reducing the amount of water grasses and weeds allow to escape into the soil.

The teams’ simulations of the warming and higher carbon dioxide levels expected later this century show no change in soil water and an increase in plant growth for warm-season grasses.

Carbon dioxide, he said, “helps this grassland community conserve water in it so they don’t dry out as much as they would otherwise.”

More good news, he said: “We think in maybe the central and northern Great Plains, we don’t see anytime soon a big drought, a big decrease in production because of this offsetting effect of CO2 because it actually boosts water use efficiency.”

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