Premium
Growth, production and interspecific competition in Sphagnum : effects of temperature, nitrogen and sulphur treatments on a boreal mire
Author(s) -
Gunnarsson Urban,
Granberg Gunnar,
Nilsson Mats
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
new phytologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.742
H-Index - 244
eISSN - 1469-8137
pISSN - 0028-646X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2004.01108.x
Subject(s) - sphagnum , interspecific competition , mire , nitrogen , zoology , competition (biology) , botany , agronomy , ecology , biology , peat , environmental science , horticulture , chemistry , organic chemistry
Summary• Growth and production of Sphagnum balticum and interspecific competition between S. balticum and either Sphagnum lindbergii or transplanted Sphagnum papillosum , were studied in a 4‐yr field experiment in a poor fen. • Temperature and influxes of nitrogen (N) and sulphur (S) were manipulated in a factorial design. The mean daily air temperature was increased by 3.6°C with glasshouse enclosures. Nitrogen loads were increased 15‐fold and S loads seven‐fold compared with the natural loads up to influxes observed during the 1980s in south‐western Sweden. • Production of S. balticum decreased with increasing temperature and N‐influx. The N treatment significantly reduced the incremental length of S. balticum , and this reduction was reinforced with time (24% in the first year to 51% in the final year). The area covered by S. lindbergii changed with time in all treatments and S. papillosum area increased significantly in the temperature‐treated plots. • Growth, production and competitive patterns change if the environmental conditions change. Increased N deposition and raised temperature may transform mires currently dominated by Sphagnum into vascular‐plant‐dominated mires.