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Nitrogen uptake by grasses: changes induced by competing neighbour plants differing in frequency of defoliation
Author(s) -
THORNTON B.,
MILLARD P.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
grass and forage science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.716
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1365-2494
pISSN - 0142-5242
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2494.1996.tb02059.x
Subject(s) - lolium perenne , festuca rubra , nitrogen , biology , agronomy , nutrient , dry weight , horticulture , zoology , poaceae , chemistry , ecology , organic chemistry
Nitrogen uptake can be modified by both frequency of defoliation and competing neighbour plants. The objective of this study was to investigate nitrogen uptake by Lolium perenne and Festuca rubra subject to weekly or monthly defoliation with five neighbours: either none, L perenne clipped weekly, L. perenne clipped monthly, F. rubra clipped weekly or F. rubra clipped monthly. Plants were grown in sand culture with nutrients supplied as solutions. Nitrogen uptake over a I‐week period commencing at the time of a defoliation event was estimated using l5 N as a tracer. L. perenne had greater dry weight and nitrogen uptake than F. rubra. Neighbours reduced nitrogen uptake per plant. When neighbours were present, clipping them more frequently resulted in greater uptake by sample plants. Over 57% of total plant uptake was partitioned towards the two youngest leaves. In mixtures of L. perenne with F. rubra , the percentages of the total pot dry weight and N content recovered in sample L. perenne plants increased when they were clipped less frequently, compared with when the accompanying F. rubra plants were clipped less frequently.