[Effects of increasing CO concentration and water deficit on photosynthetic performance and water use efficiency of typical green manure plants].

Exploring the impacts of CO and soil water availability on the photosynthetic performance and water use efficiency of three green manure plants could provide theoretical basis for the adaptive management of grassland ecosystems under future climate change. An experiment was conducted in an artificial climate chamber with precisely controled CO concentrations of 400 (natural atmospheric) and 800 μmol·mol (doubled), and four water treatments, 80% field water holding capacity (FC) (full irrigation control group), 55%-60% FC (mild water deficit), 35%-40% FC (moderate water deficit), <35% FC (severe water deficit) to investigate the impacts of increasing CO concentration and water deficit on chlorophyll content, gas exchange variables, and water use efficiency (WUE) of oilseed rape (), white clover (), and alfalfa (). The results showed that under the same CO concentration, when soil moisture was less than 40% FC, the chlorophyll content and gas exchange parameters of three plants were significantly decreased. The treatment of 55%-60% FC did not alter the total chlorophyll content of three species, but reduced the photosynthetic rate () and transpiration rate () of white clover and alfalfa by 6%-25% and did not affect their WUE. Compared with atmospheric CO concentration, the doubled CO concentration significantly decreased the of oilseed rape by 21.5% under the full irrigation treatment, increased the of three species under mild water deficit, increased the of oilseed rape and alfalfa under moderate water deficit, but only improved the of alfalfa under severe water deficit. The doubled CO concentration significantly increased WUE of white clover and alfalfa under all water deficit conditions, but only increased WUE of oilseed rape under mild water deficit. Increasing CO concentration and water deficit significantly interacted to affect of three species and the WUE of oilseed rape. In summary, the three species differed in their responses to doubled atmospheric CO concentration and different levels of water deficit. Our results suggested that elevated CO concentration could improve the adverse effects of mild water deficit on photosynthetic performance and WUE of three species, but only improve the photosynthetic performance of alfalfa under severe water deficit.