Effects of Aeration on Bracken and Heather Grown in Nutrient Solution

Abstract

IT has frequently been noted by ecologists, and is readily observed in the field, that the bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum, Kuhn.) is halted in its advance on encountering water-logged soil. Also, irrigation of a Pteridietum rapidly decreases the density and height of the plant. Apparently no experimental investigation of aeration as a factor in the growth of bracken has hitherto been made. Watt has suggested that aeration may be an important factor in the outcome of the struggle between bracken and heather (Calluna vulgaris, Salisb.), and therefore the latter has been the subject of similar experiments.