Are competitive interactions influenced by spatial nutrient heterogeneity and root foraging behavior?
• Nutrient heterogeneity, root foraging and competitive interactions were investigated for six species native to south-eastern USA. • Monocultures, two- and six-species garden plots were fertilized to create spatially homogeneous or heterogeneous nutrient conditions. After 3.5 months, root prolife...
| Veröffentlicht in: | The New phytologist. - 1979. - 154(2002), 2 vom: 20. Mai, Seite 409-417 |
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| Weitere Verfasser: | , , |
| Format: | Online-Aufsatz |
| Sprache: | English |
| Veröffentlicht: |
2002
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| Zugriff auf das übergeordnete Werk: | The New phytologist |
| Schlagworte: | Journal Article coastal plain species interspecific competition intraspecific competition precision root foraging behavior scale sensitivity spatial nutrient heterogeneity |
| Zusammenfassung: | • Nutrient heterogeneity, root foraging and competitive interactions were investigated for six species native to south-eastern USA. • Monocultures, two- and six-species garden plots were fertilized to create spatially homogeneous or heterogeneous nutrient conditions. After 3.5 months, root proliferation in rich patches (precision), mean above-ground biomass per plant (scale) and influence of nutrient treatment on total plot biomass (sensitivity) in monocultures were measured. Competition (above-ground biomass) was assessed in two- and six-species plots. • In monoculture plots, two species were relatively precise foragers, but no species showed significant sensitivity to nutrient treatment. Correlations between precision, scale and sensitivity were weak (-0.40 < r < 0.17), which contrasts with previous work showing a scale-precision trade-off. In two-species plots, competition was influenced by soil heterogeneity in two of six cases tested (anova, P < 0.05), and precise foragers grew larger in heterogeneous than in homogeneous conditions. In six-species plots, nutrient treatment had no influence on growth or competition. • In our study system, heterogeneity effects on competition are context specific, generally weak and potentially mediated by the degree of root foraging precision |
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| Beschreibung: | Date Revised 20.04.2021 published: Print Citation Status PubMed-not-MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1469-8137 |
| DOI: | 10.1046/j.1469-8137.2002.00389.x |