PDF(Pubmed)
Abstract：
The reduction of greenhouse gases (GHGs) emission by replacing fossil energy stocks with carbon-neutral fuels is a major topic of the political and scientific debate on environmental sustainability. Such shift in energy sources is expected to curtail the accumulation rate of atmospheric CO2, which is a strong infrared absorber and thus contributes to the global warming effect. Although such change would produce desirable outputs, the consequences of a drastic decrease in atmospheric CO2 (the substrate of photosynthesis) should be carefully considered in the light of its potential impact on ecosystems stability and agricultural productivity. Indeed, plants regulate CO2 uptake and water loss through the same anatomical structure: the leaf stomata. A reduced CO2 availability is thus expected to enhance transpiration rate in plants decreasing their water use efficiency and imposing an increased water demand for both agricultural and wild ecosystems. We suggest that this largely underestimated issue should be duly considered when implementing policies that aim at the mitigation of global environmental changes and, at the same time, promote sustainable agricultural practices, include the preservation of biodiversity. Also, we underlie the important role(s) that modern biotechnology could play to tackle these global challenges by introducing new traits aimed at creating crop varieties with enhanced CO2 capture and water- and light-use efficiency.
摘要：
通过用碳中和燃料代替化石能源来减少温室气体（GHG）排放是关于环境可持续性的政治和科学辩论的主要主题。预计能源的这种变化将减少大气CO2的积累速率，CO2是一种强烈的红外吸收剂，因此有助于全球变暖效应。尽管这种变化会产生理想的产出，鉴于大气CO2（光合作用的底物）急剧减少对生态系统稳定性和农业生产力的潜在影响，应仔细考虑其后果。的确,植物通过相同的解剖结构：叶片气孔来调节CO2的吸收和水分流失。因此,预期降低的CO2可用性将提高植物的蒸腾速率,从而降低它们的水利用效率并对农业和野生生态系统施加增加的水需求。我们建议，在实施旨在缓解全球环境变化的政策时，应适当考虑这一被大大低估的问题，同时,促进可持续农业实践，包括保护生物多样性。此外，我们强调了现代生物技术在应对这些全球挑战方面可以发挥的重要作用，通过引入旨在创造具有增强的二氧化碳捕获以及水和光利用效率的作物品种的新特征。
