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Local climate, topography and plant growth in Lathkill Dale NNR. II. Growth and nutrient uptake within a single season
Author(s) -
RORISON I. H.,
GUPTA P. L.,
HUNT R.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
plant, cell and environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.646
H-Index - 200
eISSN - 1365-3040
pISSN - 0140-7791
DOI - 10.1111/1365-3040.ep11613478
Subject(s) - nutrient , shoot , nitrogen , dry weight , zoology , growing season , field experiment , growth rate , moisture , horticulture , agronomy , environmental science , biology , chemistry , ecology , mathematics , geometry , organic chemistry
In a 30‐week field experiment, observations on growth and nutrient uptake in potted plants were made concurrently with soil and air temperatures on north‐ and south‐facing slopes. Parallel observations were also made in a controlled environment. Growth in the field was slow but steady, declines in shoot weight fraction with time being matched by increases in rate of dry weight increment per unit of shoot. Increases in root weight fraction, however, failed to match low and declining rates of nitrogen uptake per unit of root; hence, nutrient concentrations generally declined with time. Thermal time in the form of degree‐day integrals above the base 3°C was found to correlate well with growth, each degree day contributing a 0.16% increase in total dry weight, on average. Soil, locational and moisture effects caused this average to vary ca. two‐fold in either direction.