Observations on Net Assimilation Rates in Arctic Environments: With two Figures in the Text

• Main Author: WILSON, J. WARREN
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press 1960
• Subjects: Articles; Arctic
• Online Access: http://aob.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/24/3/372

Examination of the net assimilation rate ( E ) during the growing season in arctic regions by a detached-leaf method revealed no differences between species or with soil richness, but showed a reduction of E with exposure to wind–probably resulting from cooling–and a tendency for E to fall towards the later part of the growing season. E generally lay in the range 0·5 to o·8 g./dm.2/week. E for detached leaves ignores respiratory losses in other parts of the plant and is not comparable with E for whole plants; failure to appreciate this confused a previous comparison of E under arctic and temperate environments. E for detached leaves in temperate summer conditions is normally around 1·1 to 1·5 g./dm.2/week. Thus E is reduced in arctic environments to about half the value in temperate conditions. This reduction is due mainly to the cold climate.