Researchers at a Swedish University say increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have shifted photosynthetic metabolism in plants over the 20th century. The study is the first worldwide that reduces biochemical regulation of plant metabolism from historical specimens. In most plants, the uptake of CO2 through photosynthesis is reduced by a side reaction called photorespiration. The research group has now found that the CO2 increase in the atmosphere over the 20th century has shifted the balance between photosynthesis and photorespiration toward photosynthesis. This shift has so far contributed to the global vegetation’s ability to dampen climate change by absorbing a third of human-caused CO2 emissions. The change was noted in both wild plants and crops.
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