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Effects of temporal heterogeneity of water supply and nutrient levels on plant biomass growth depend on the plant’s relative size within its population

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Ecological Research

Abstract

Temporal heterogeneity of water supply can alter the biomass growth of plants, even when the same total amount of water is provided. Most studies of heterogeneous watering have focused on responses of whole populations rather than individuals in a population. The effects of water supply heterogeneity may also depend on nutrient levels. Thus, we investigated the integrated effects of water supply heterogeneity and nutrient levels on plants within a population. Six plants of Perilla frutescens per pot were grown under different combinations of frequency of water supply and nutrient level. The effects on yield per pot, individual biomass, and allocation to roots were analyzed after a 44-day watering regime. A homogeneous water supply resulted in a greater yield per pot and greater biomass of individual plants than a heterogeneous supply. However, the interaction between water supply heterogeneity and nutrient level was significant only in larger individuals, not in smaller plants or at the p. Water supply heterogeneity affected the growth of all plants, but the effects differed among individuals depending on their relative size within their population. It is therefore important to focus not only on whole-population characteristics such as yield but also on individuals in a population in order to reveal the detailed effects of water supply heterogeneity.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Mr. E. Sugiyama and Ms. T. Yasuki of the Tokyo Metropolitan University (TMU) for their technical help during the experiment. The members of the Plant Ecology Laboratory of TMU also helped us during the experiment, especially for harvesting of the plants. The journal’s editor, the anonymous reviewers, and Dr. J. Lundholm provided constructive comments on earlier versions of our manuscript at different stages. Part of this study was supported by Grants 16570021 and 18570027, awarded to J.I.S. by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

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  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Tokyo Metropolitan University, 1-1 Minamiosawa, Hachioji, Tokyo, 192-0397, Japan

    Yousuke Hagiwara, Naoki Kachi & Jun-Ichirou Suzuki

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  1. Yousuke Hagiwara
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  2. Naoki Kachi
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  3. Jun-Ichirou Suzuki
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Correspondence to Yousuke Hagiwara.

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Hagiwara, Y., Kachi, N. & Suzuki, JI. Effects of temporal heterogeneity of water supply and nutrient levels on plant biomass growth depend on the plant’s relative size within its population. Ecol Res 27, 1079–1086 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-012-0989-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-012-0989-6

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