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Developmental Control of Net Productivity in Typha Latifolia Ecotypes
Author(s) -
McNaughton S. J.
Publication year - 1974
Publication title -
ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.144
H-Index - 294
eISSN - 1939-9170
pISSN - 0012-9658
DOI - 10.2307/1934422
Subject(s) - biology , ecotype , assimilation (phonology) , typha , productivity , acclimatization , agronomy , biomass (ecology) , population , ecology , philosophy , wetland , linguistics , demography , macroeconomics , sociology , economics
Population samples of broad—leaved cattail (Typha latifolia L.) from a variety of climates were studied to determine the extent to which net productivity, as dry matter production rate, was determined by (a) net assimilation rate per unit left tissue and (b) rate of production of leaf tissue. Assimilation rates of the eight populations studied were identical. Similarly, acclimation responses stabilized the net carbon balance of the same genotype under different environmental conditions. In contrast, rates of biomass production varied widely in different genotypes in the same environment, and in the same genotype in different environments. Variations in net productivity were regulated primarily by the rate of production of leaf tissue. This relationship held for different genotypes in the same environment, and the same genotype in different environments. Therefore, I conclude that the efficiency of net production in cattails is determined primarily by the rate at which leaf tissue is produced, rather than by inherent differences in the assimilation efficiency of that tissue.