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Nutrient limitation in species‐rich lowland fens
Author(s) -
Boeye Dirk,
Verhagen Bart,
Van Haesebroeck Véronique,
Verheyen Rudolf F.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
journal of vegetation science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1654-1103
pISSN - 1100-9233
DOI - 10.2307/3237333
Subject(s) - nutrient , carex , phosphorus , biomass (ecology) , vegetation (pathology) , productivity , agronomy , ecosystem , nitrogen , ecology , environmental science , biology , chemistry , economics , medicine , macroeconomics , organic chemistry , pathology
. Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium were supplied to some Belgian fens of varying nutrient status and productivity. Plant growth in the lowest productive fen with a species‐rich Caricion davallianae vegetation was strongly P‐limited. N was ineffective when applied alone, but increased the effect of P‐addition when applied together. Summer biomass and plant nutrient concentrations were monitored for four years, and showed partial recovery of nutrient limitation. In a more productive fen dominated by Carex lasiocarpa and in a fen meadow, nutrient limitation was less strong. N limited growth in the productive fen, and N and K were co‐limiting in the fen meadow. The P‐concentration in the productive fen vegetation showed a marked increase after P‐fertilization, but it did not result in higher standing crop. The significance of P‐limitation for the conservation of species rich low productive fens is discussed. P‐limitation may be an essential feature in the conservation of low productive rich fens: because it is less mobile in the landscape than N and/or because it is an intrinsic property of this vegetation type. Plant nutrient concentrations and N:P‐ratios may be used as an indication for the presence and type of nutrient limitation in the vegetation. We found N:P‐ratios of 23 to 31 for a P‐limited site and 8 to 15 in N‐limited sites. This was in agreement with critical values from the literature: N:P > ca. 20 for P‐limitation and N:P < 14 for N‐limitation. Thus, this technique appears valid in the vegetation types that were studied here.