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First come, first served: grasses have a head start on forbs with prompt nutrient patch occupation

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Abstract

Graminoids and forbs are important entities in grassland community assembly, differing in their functional properties. In our study, we asked 1. Do graminoids and forbs differ in the speed of root proliferation into soil patches established under field conditions? 2. Is the patch occupation dynamics affected by the nutrient concentration in the patch? 3. What is the temporal dynamics of available macronutrients in an experimental patch and does it provide comparative advantage to any of these two categories in connection with their root proliferation dynamics? We used ingrowth core technique. Proliferated roots were sampled after 1, 2, 4, 8, or 15 weeks, with forb and graminoid categories distinguished on anatomical basis. We measured root length and root dry weight, concentration of NH4+, NO3−, and of exchangeable phosphorus in the soil. Roots of both functional groups proliferated more intensively in enriched soil patches than in the control ones, but graminoids entered experimental patches more rapidly. Soil concetration of available N fell down to the background level in four weeks. The initial head start by graminoids seems to be crucial for the overall patch exploitation, because the concentration of available nutrient forms, namely nitrate and ammonium, decreases rapidly.

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Abbreviations

SRL:

specific root length; root length divided by their dry weight

GFR-W:

graminoid to forb ratio based on dry weight of their roots

GFR-L:

graminoid to forb ratio based on their root length

NTOT, PTOT :

total amount of N and P in the aboveground parts of graminoids and forbs growing in the close patch neighbourhood

RGR:

relative growth rate of roots

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Acknowledgements

We thank Jonathan Titus for important suggestions and language revisions, to anonymous reviewers of an earlier version for their valuable comments, and to Blanka Divišová for her assistance with the field and lab work. This work was funded by a grant from the Czech Ministry of Education, MSM-6007665801, and a grant from the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic, GAČR 206/06/0098.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 31, CZ-370 05, České Budějovice, Czech Republic

    Marie Šmilauerová & Petr Šmilauer

Authors
  1. Marie Šmilauerová
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  2. Petr Šmilauer
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Correspondence to Marie Šmilauerová.

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Responsible Editor: Ellis Hoffland.

Appendix

Appendix

List of species growing in the close patch neighbourhood (in the rim surrounding each patch, with an external diameter 11 cm and projection area of 80 cm2) and their relative frequency (% of all sampled pathes). In addition, Festuca rubra, Alchemilla vulgaris agg., Betonica officinalis, Galium verum, Medicago lupulina and Ranunculus acris were noticed several times in the broader patch neighbourhood (40 × 40 cm squares). The plant species nomenclature follows Kubát et al. (2002)

Graminoids:

Forbs:

Poa angustifolia

97%

Veronica chamaedrys

61%

Alopecurus pratensis

43%

Achillea millefolium

29%

Holcus lanatus

33%

Plantago lanceolata

29%

Avenula pubescens

22%

Campanula patula

18%

Agropyron repens

12%

Rumex acetosa

18%

Luzula campestris

12%

Carum carvi

14%

Festuca pratensis

6%

Taraxacum sect. Ruderalia

12%

Dactylis glomerata

4%

Centaurea jacea

8%

Trisetum flavescens

4%

Veronica arvensis

8%

  

Cerastium holosteoides subsp. triviale

6%

  

Clinopodium vulgare

6%

  

Leontodon autumnalis

6%

  

Pimpinella major

6%

  

Hypericum perforatum

4%

  

Leontodon hispidus

4%

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Šmilauerová, M., Šmilauer, P. First come, first served: grasses have a head start on forbs with prompt nutrient patch occupation. Plant Soil 328, 327–336 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-009-0112-0

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