Abstract
Carex acutiformis, C. rostrata and C. diandra occur as dominant species in different floating fens in the ‘Vechtplassen’ area in the Netherlands and have, in this order, a lower annual biomass production concurrent with the deceasing nutrient availability in the fens. The species allocated proportionally equal amounts of biomass to the leaf blades, but Carex diandra invested more in the leaf sheaths and in the roots than the other two species and also had the greatest root length proportional to leaf area. The leaf area ratio was greatest in Carex acutiformis, but C. diandra had the highest net assimilation rate and the highest relative growth rate. These characteristics are presumably connected with the vegetation structure of the fens which becomes, in the order mentioned, more open with increasing irradiance of the whole plant.
The N concentration in the leaf blades increased in the species order mentioned above, which is, remarkably, in the order of decreasing N-availability in the fens. The percentage distribution of N, P and K over the different plant parts was different for the three species and was also different from the distribution of biomass.
The efficiency of nitrogen use in relation to biomass production was highest in Carex acutiformis and lowest in C. diandra, but the efficiency of phosphorus use was lowest in the first species.
The percentage reallocation of N and P from senescing leaves and the contribution of reallocated N and P to total plant N and P content was similar in the three species.
In this study not only the development of the aboveground plant parts was followed, but also that of the belowground parts, by growing detached tillers in open tubes, placed in the peat soil at their original growth site, so that direct and accurate measurements could be made of belowground and aboveground individual plant parts and of nutrient allocation patterns of these plants.
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Konings, H., Verhoeven, J.T.A. & de Groot, R. Growth characteristics and seasonal allocation patterns of biomass and nutrients in Carex species growing in floating fens. Plant Soil 147, 183–196 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00029070
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00029070