Abstract
In this experiment the separate and interactive effects of grazing of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal hyphae by collembola and of relative germination date on competition between the mycorrhizal perennial grassPanicum virgatum and the non-mycorrhizal annual cruciferBrassica nigra were investigated. In the absence of competition,P. virgatum mass and P uptake were not affected by collembola grazing; grazing did reduce tissue N concentration and root: shoot ratio. Competition fromB. nigra plants of the same age/size (“simultaneous competition”) significantly reducedP. virgatum total, root, and shoot mass relative to control plants not subject to competition. In contrast, when in competition,B. nigra plants did not differ in biomass fromB. nigra controls grown without competition. Simultaneous competition also reduced N and P uptake byP. virgatum, but not byB. nigra. Grazing by collembola during simultaneous competition increased the differences in nutrient uptake and tended to shift the competitive balance further toward the non-mycorrhizalB. nigra. WhenP. virgatum plants were subjected to competition fromB. nigra plants which germinated three weeks later (“offset competition”) the situation was reversed: offsetB. nigra plants were negatively affected by competition while the larger, olderP. virgatum plants were not. Thus, relative germination date is important in determining the relative competitive ability of these two species. Grazing by collembola did not affect offset competition. The grazing of VAM hyphae by collembola appears to increase N availability in this experimental system. Under simultaneous competition, this N is taken up by the more extensive root system ofB. nigra; under offset conditions, the root system of the smallerB. nigra plants is insufficient to take advantage of the added resources. Thus, we suggest that grazing-induced transient changes in nutrient availability and the differential abilities of the two species to make use of these added resources constitute the mechanisms by which relative germination date and collembola grazing influence competition.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
A.P.H.A. 1976 Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, 14th edition. American Public Health Association, New York.
Bookman P A and Mack R N 1982 Root interaction betweenBromus tectorum andPoa pratensis: A three-dimensional analysis. Ecology 63, 640–646.
Chapin, FS III, van Cleve K, and Tryon P R 1986 Relationship of ion absorption to growth rate in taiga trees. Oecologia (Berlin) 69, 238–242.
Crowell H F and Boerner R E J 1988 Influences of mycorrhizae and phosphorus on belowground competition between two old field annuals. Environ. Exper. Bot 28, 381–392.
Finlay R D 1985 Interactions between soil micro-arthropods and endomycorrhizal associations of higher plants.In Ecological Interactions in Soil, Plants, Microbes, and Animals. Eds. A H Fitter, D Atkinson, D J Read and M B Usher. pp 319–331. Blackwell Scientific Publ., Boston, MA.
Fowler N L 1984 The role of germination date, spatial arrangement, and neighborhood effects in competitive interactions in Linum. J. Ecol. 72, 307–318.
Grime J P 1977 Evidence for the existence of three primary strategies in plants and its relevance to ecological and evolutionary theory. Amer. Natur. 111, 1169–1194.
Grinstead M J, Hedley M J, White R E and Nye P H 1982 Plant-induced changes in the rhizosphere of rape (Brassica napus var. emerald) seedlings. I. pH change and the increase in P concentration in the soil solution. New Phytol. 91, 19–29.
Hall I R 1978 Effects of endomycorrhizas on the competitive ability of white clover. New Zealand J. Agric. Res. 21, 509–515.
Harris K K and R E J Boerner 1990 Effects of belowground grazing by collembola on growth, mycorrhizal infection, and P uptake ofGeranium robertianum. Plant and Soil 129 203–210.
Ingham R E, Trofymow J A, Ingham E R, and Coleman D C 1985 Interactions of bacteria, fungi, and their nematode grazers: Effects on nutrient cycling and plant growth. Ecol. Monogr. 5, 119–141.
Moore J C, St John T V, and Coleman D C 1985 Ingestion of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal hyphae and spores by soil microarthropods. Ecology 66, 1979–1981.
Rabatin S C and Stinner B R 1985 Arthropods as consumers of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Mycologia 77 320–322.
S.A.S. 1985 Statistical Analysis System, User’s Guide: Statistics. Version 5. S.A.S. Institute, Cary, NC.
Swift M J, Heal O W and Anderson J M 1979 Decomposition in Terrestrial Ecosystems. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA. 372p.
Technicon 1977 Individual/simultaneous determination of nitrogen and/or phosphorus in BD acid digests: Industrial methods 329-74W/B. Technicon Industrial System, Tarrytown, NY.
Tomlin A D and Miller J J 1987 Composition of the soil fauna in forested and grassy plots at Delhi, Ontario. Can. J. Zool. 65, 3048–3055.
Vlug H and Borden J H 1973 Soil Acari and Collembola populations affected by logging and slash burning in a coastal British Columbia coniferous forest. Environ. Ent. 2, 1016–1023.
Warnock A J, Fitter A H and Usher M B 1982 The influence of a springtailFolsomia candida (Insecta, Collembola) on the mycorrhizal association of leekAllium porrum and the vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal endophyte,Glomus fasciculatus. New Phytol. 90, 285–292.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Boerner, R.E.J., Harris, K.K. Effects of collembola (arthropoda) and relative germination date on competition between mycorrhizalPanicum virgatum (Poaceae) and non-mycorrhizalBrassica nigra (Brassicaceae). Plant Soil 136, 121–129 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02465227
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02465227