Summary
We studied the effects of nitrogen supply on growth, allocation, and gas exchange characteristics of two perennial grasses of dry, nutrient-poor inland dunes: Corynephorus canescens (L.) Beauv. and Agrostis vinealis Schreber. C. canescens invests more biomass in leaves and less in roots, but has less leaf area and more root length per unit plant weight than A. vinealis. A. vinealis invests more nitrogen per unit leaf weight, but less per unit leaf area, despite a similar relative nitrogen investment in leaves and plant nitrogen concentration. Between-species differences in the rate of net photosynthesis, transpiration and shoot respiration are positively related to leaf nitrogen content per unit leaf area. The rate of net photosynthesis per unit plant weight is higher for A. vinealis at both levels of nitrogen supply, due to differences in leaf area ratio (LAR), and despite the reverse differences in the rate of net photosynthesis per unit leaf area. The water use efficiency of the two species is similar and increases significantly with an increase in nitrogen supply. The photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency on the other hand is not affected by nitrogen supply, while at both low and high nitrogen supply A. vinealis has a 10% higher photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency than C. canescens.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Berendse F, Aerts R (1984) Competition between Erica tetralix (L.) and Molinia caerulea (L.) Moench as affected by the availability of nutrients. Acta Oecol/Oecol Plant 5:3–14
Berendse F, Elberse W (1990) Competition and nutrient availability in heathland and grassland ecosystems. In: Grace J, Tilman D (eds) Perspectives in Plant Competition, Academic Press, London, pp 93–116
Bobbink R, Willems JH (1987) Increasing dominance of Brachypodium pinnatum (L.) Beauv. in chalk grasslands: A threat to a species-rich ecosystem. Biol Cons 40:301–314
Bobbink R, Den Dubbelden KC, Willems JH (1989) Seasonal dynamics of phytomass and nutrients in chalk grasslands. Oikos 55:216–224
Boot RGA, Mensink M (1990) The influence of nitrogen availability on growth parameters of fast- and slow-growing perennial grasses. In: Atkinson D (ed) Plant Root Systems, Their effect on Ecosystem Composition and Structure (Proceedings of BES Symposium, Aberdeen, September 1988), in press
Bradshaw AD, Chadwick MJ, Jowett D, Snaydon RWD (1964) Experimental investigations into the mineral nutrition of several grass species. IV. Nitrogen level. J Ecol 52:665–676
Brouwer R (1963) Some aspects of the equilibrium between overground and underground plant parts. Jaarb IBS 1963, Wageningen, pp 31–39
Brouwer R (1983) Functional equilibrium: sense or non-sense? Neth J Agric Sci 31:335–348
Daniëls FJA (1990) Changes in dry grassland after cutting of Scots pine near Kootwijk, the Netherlands. In: Krahulec F, Agnew A, Willems JH (eds) Spatial Processes in Vegetation. SPB Academic Publishing, The Hague, in press
Evans JR (1983) Nitrogen and photosynthesis in the flag leaf of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Plant Physiol 72:297–302
Field C, Mooney HA (1986) The photosynthesis-nitrogen relationship in wild plants. In: Givnish TJ (ed) On the Economy of Plant Form and Function. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 25–55
Field C, Merino J, Mooney HA (1983) Compromises between water-use-efficiency and nitrogen-use-efficiency in five species of California evergreens. Oecologia 60:384–389
Fitter AH (1985) Functional significance of root morphology and root system architecture. In: Fitter AH, Atkinson D, Read DJ, Usher MB (eds) Ecological Interactions in Soil. (Special Publication British Ecological Society no. 4) Blackwell, Oxford, pp 87–106
Hirose T, Werger MJA (1987) Nitrogen use efficiency and daily photosynthesis of leaves in the canopy of a Solidago altissima stand. Physiol Plant 70:215–222
Hunt ER, Weber JA, Gates DM (1985) Effects of nitrate application on Amaranthus powellii, Wats. III. Optimal allocation of leaf nitrogen for photosynthesis and stomatal conductance. Plant Physiol 79:619–624
Hunt R (1982) Plant Growth Curves. The Functional Approach to Growth Analysis. Edward Arnold, London
Karlsson PS (1985) Effects of water and mineral nutrient supply on a deciduous and evergreen dwarf shrub: Vaccinium uliginosum L. and V. vitis-idaea L. Holarctic Ecol 8:1–8
Konings H, Koot E, Tijman-de Wolf A (1989) Growth characteristics, nutrient allocation and photosynthesis of Carex species from floating fens. Oecologia 80:110–121
Körner Ch, Renhardt U (1987) Dry matter partitioning and root length: leaf area ratios in herbaceous perennial plants with diverse altitude distribution. Oecologia 74:411–418
Lambers H, Dijkstra P (1987) A physiological analysis of genotypic variation in relative growth rate: Can growth rate confer ecological advantage? In: van Andel J, Bakker P, Snaydon RWD (eds) Disturbance in Grasslands. Dr W Junk Publishers, Dordrecht, pp 237–252
Larcher W (1983) Physiological Plant Ecology. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York
Lee JA, Harmer R, Ignaciuk R (1983) Nitrogen as a limiting factor in plant communities. In: Lee JA, McNeill S, Rorison IH (eds) Nitrogen as an Ecological Factor. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 95–112
Martin B, Thorstenson YR (1988) Stable carbon isotope composition (δ13C), and biomass productivity of Lycopersicon esculentum, Lycopersicon pennellii, and the F1 Hybrid. Plant Physiol 88:213–217
Nátr L (1975) Influence of mineral nutrition on photosynthèsis and the use of assimilates. In: Cooper JP (ed) Photosynthesis and Productivity in Different Environments. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 537–555
Newman EL (1966) A method of estimating the total length of root in a sample. J Appl Ecol 3:139–145
Poorter H (1989) Interspecific variation in relative growth rate: On ecological causes and physiological consequences. In: Lambers H, Cambridge ML, Konings H, Pons TL (eds) Causes and Consequences of Variation in Growth Rate and Productivity of Higher Plants. SPB Academic Publishing, The Hague, pp 45–68
Robinson R, Rorison IH (1985) A quantitative analysis of the relationships between root distribution and nitrogen uptake from soil by two grass species. J Soil Sci 36:71–85
Sage RF, Pearcy RW (1987) The nitrogen use efficiency of C3 and C4 plants. II. Leaf nitrogen effects on the gas exchange characteristics of Chenopodium album (L.) and Amaranthus retroflexus (L.). Plant Physiol 84:959–963
Symonides E (1979) The structure and population dynamics of psammophytes on inland dunes II. Loose-sod populations. Ekol Polska 27:191–234
Tennant D (1976) A test of a modified line intersect method of estimating root length. J Ecol 63:995–1001
Vermeer JG (1985) The effect of nutrient addition and lowering of the water table on shoot biomass and species composition of a wet grassland community (Cirsio-Molinietum Siss. et de Vries 1942). Acta Oecol/Oecol Plant 7:145–155
Von Caemmerer S, Farquhar GD (1981) Some relationships between the biochemistry of photosynthesis and the gas exchange of leaves. Planta 153:376–387
Waring RH, McDonald AJS, Larsson S, Ericsson T, Wiren A, Arwidsson E, Ericsson A, Lohammar T (1985) Differences in chemical composition of plants grown at constant relative growth rates with stable mineral nutrition. Oecologia 66:157–160
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Boot, R.G.A., den Dubbelden, K.C. Effect of nitrogen supply on growth, allocation and gas exchange characteristics of two perennial grasses from inland dunes. Oecologia 85, 115–121 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00317351
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00317351