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Directly quantifying multiple interacting influences on plant competition
Author(s) -
Trinder Clare J.,
Brooker Rob W.,
Davidson Hazel,
Robinson David
Publication year - 2021
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/pce.13944
Subject(s) - interspecific competition , biomass (ecology) , competition (biology) , agronomy , dactylis glomerata , perennial plant , ammonium , plantaginaceae , weed , ecosystem , biology , botany , environmental science , ecology , chemistry , poaceae , organic chemistry
When plants compete what influences that interaction? To answer this we measured belowground competition directly, as the simultaneous capture of soil ammonium and nitrate by co‐existing herbaceous perennials, Dactylis glomerata and Plantago lanceolata , under the influence of: species identity; N uptake and biomass of focal and neighbour plants; location (benign lowland versus harsher upland site); N availability (low or high N fertilizer); N ion, ammonium or nitrate production (mineralisation) rate, and competition type (intra‐ or interspecific), as direct effects or pairwise interactions in linear models. We also measured biomass as an indirect proxy for competition. Only three factors influenced both competitive N uptake and biomass production: focal species identity, N ion and the interaction between N ion and neighbour N uptake. Location had little effect on N uptake but a strong influence on biomass production. N uptake increased linearly with biomass only in isolated plants. Our results support the view that measuring resource capture or biomass production tells you different things about how competitors interact with one another and their environment, and that biomass is a longer‐term integrative proxy for the outcomes of multiple separate interactions—such as competition for N—occurring between plants.