From biochemical pathways to the agro-ecological scale: Carbon capture in a changing climate.

Anthropogenic climate change on Earth has emerged as one of he defining problems of our time. It is a systemic phenomenon, nvolving biogeochemical changes occurring on continental, atmopheric, and oceanic scales, and affecting most (if not all) life n earth. It has begun to alter the distribution of species (e.g., anDerWal et al., 2013), due to radical changes in the availability of ife’s most fundamental requirements, nutrients and energy, while uperimposing new stresses on organisms, including elevated temeratures and an increased frequency of extreme weather events Stott, 2016). In addition, there is now a consensus that under lobal change conditions, water use efficiency in higher plants will lay a crucial role in natural ecosystems as well as in agriculture. owever, water use efficiency is the result of a very complex reglation of many processes including leaf development (stomatal ensity), stomatal opening dynamics, water uptake and translocaion, and efficiency of carboxylation reactions in photosynthetically ctive cells. The list of plant responses to changes in environmental arameters due to global change can be far more extended. Therefore, an intensive discussion about how global change will mpair food security is currently underway (Myers et al., 2014). ecent studies show that the hope that increased [CO2] in the atmophere will drastically stimulate plant growth is far too optimistic. n C4 plants, the higher risk of drought during the vegetation period ay potentially overcompensate the CO2 fertilization effect, while ncreased dark respiration under higher temperatures is expected o reduce net photosynthesis in both C3 and C4 plants. Markelz et al. 2011) demonstrated that elevated CO2 altered plant respiration nd N demand and metabolism, giving evidence that not only phoosynthesis but many other processes are targets of rising [CO2]. As lobal change proceeds, we will need a better understanding from he molecular level to the whole plant, and even plant communiies, to assess the risk of reduced primary production under global hange conditions in terrestrial as well aquatic environments. In this Special issue of Journal of Plant Physiology, the conceptual ichness of the subject of plants facing climate change can be seen in he variety of articles presented, and in the many levels of biological rganization represented. These levels range from the complex operation of individual nzymes and biochemical pathways, such as carbonic anhydrase