Root system size and precision in nutrient foraging: responses to spatial pattern of nutrient supply in six herbaceous species

1. An experiment was carried out to test the hypotheses that in heterogeneous environments: (i) the size of species’ root systems will be negatively correlated with their ability to place roots precisely in nutrient-rich patches; (ii) precision of root placement will be less affected by distance to...

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Published in:Journal of Ecology
Main Authors: Wijesinghe, Dushyantha K, John, Elizabeth A, Beurskens, Simone, Hutchings, Michael J
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: Wiley-Blackwell 2001
Subjects:
Online Access:http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/28936/
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2001.00618.x
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spelling ftunivsussex:oai:sro.sussex.ac.uk:28936 2023-07-30T04:02:47+02:00 Root system size and precision in nutrient foraging: responses to spatial pattern of nutrient supply in six herbaceous species Wijesinghe, Dushyantha K John, Elizabeth A Beurskens, Simone Hutchings, Michael J 2001-12 http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/28936/ https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2001.00618.x unknown Wiley-Blackwell Wijesinghe, Dushyantha K, John, Elizabeth A, Beurskens, Simone and Hutchings, Michael J (2001) Root system size and precision in nutrient foraging: responses to spatial pattern of nutrient supply in six herbaceous species. Journal of Ecology, 89 (6). pp. 972-983. ISSN 0022-0477 Article PeerReviewed 2001 ftunivsussex https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2001.00618.x 2023-07-11T20:20:09Z 1. An experiment was carried out to test the hypotheses that in heterogeneous environments: (i) the size of species’ root systems will be negatively correlated with their ability to place roots precisely in nutrient-rich patches; (ii) precision of root placement will be less affected by distance to nutrient patches in species with large root systems; (iii) species with greater precision in root placement will show greater variation in biomass (sensitivity) in response to heterogeneity in nutrient supply; and (iv) plants will be less precise in root placement, and will invest more biomass in above-ground structures or in fitness-related attributes, when in association with mycorrhizas. 2. Single plants of six herbaceous species (Arrhenatherum elatius, Festuca ovina, Plantago lanceolata, Campanula rotundifolia,Papaver rhoeas and Sonchus oleraceus) were grown in pots with mycorrhizas either present or absent. The same amount of nutrients was supplied either homogeneously or heterogeneously at different distances from the plants. Pots received the same quantity of nutrients in all treatments. 3. There was a significant negative correlation between species’ root system biomass and precision. Several species, including some with large root systems, showed small but highly significant differences in precision between the various treatments. Only the high-precision species Papaver and the low-precision species Campanula exhibited sensitivity in biomass produced in response to different patterns of heterogeneity. 4. The precision with which roots were placed in nutrient-rich patches was affected by distance from patches in Papaver, the smallest-rooted species used in the experiment, and in Plantago, one of the larger-rooted species. There was no evidence to support the hypothesis that precision would be affected more by distance from nutrient patches in small-rooted species than in large-rooted species. 5. The presence of mycorrhizas did not affect precision of root placement in any species. However, allocation of ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Campanula rotundifolia University of Sussex: Sussex Research Online Journal of Ecology 89 6 972 983
institution Open Polar
collection University of Sussex: Sussex Research Online
op_collection_id ftunivsussex
language unknown
description 1. An experiment was carried out to test the hypotheses that in heterogeneous environments: (i) the size of species’ root systems will be negatively correlated with their ability to place roots precisely in nutrient-rich patches; (ii) precision of root placement will be less affected by distance to nutrient patches in species with large root systems; (iii) species with greater precision in root placement will show greater variation in biomass (sensitivity) in response to heterogeneity in nutrient supply; and (iv) plants will be less precise in root placement, and will invest more biomass in above-ground structures or in fitness-related attributes, when in association with mycorrhizas. 2. Single plants of six herbaceous species (Arrhenatherum elatius, Festuca ovina, Plantago lanceolata, Campanula rotundifolia,Papaver rhoeas and Sonchus oleraceus) were grown in pots with mycorrhizas either present or absent. The same amount of nutrients was supplied either homogeneously or heterogeneously at different distances from the plants. Pots received the same quantity of nutrients in all treatments. 3. There was a significant negative correlation between species’ root system biomass and precision. Several species, including some with large root systems, showed small but highly significant differences in precision between the various treatments. Only the high-precision species Papaver and the low-precision species Campanula exhibited sensitivity in biomass produced in response to different patterns of heterogeneity. 4. The precision with which roots were placed in nutrient-rich patches was affected by distance from patches in Papaver, the smallest-rooted species used in the experiment, and in Plantago, one of the larger-rooted species. There was no evidence to support the hypothesis that precision would be affected more by distance from nutrient patches in small-rooted species than in large-rooted species. 5. The presence of mycorrhizas did not affect precision of root placement in any species. However, allocation of ...
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Wijesinghe, Dushyantha K
John, Elizabeth A
Beurskens, Simone
Hutchings, Michael J
spellingShingle Wijesinghe, Dushyantha K
John, Elizabeth A
Beurskens, Simone
Hutchings, Michael J
Root system size and precision in nutrient foraging: responses to spatial pattern of nutrient supply in six herbaceous species
author_facet Wijesinghe, Dushyantha K
John, Elizabeth A
Beurskens, Simone
Hutchings, Michael J
author_sort Wijesinghe, Dushyantha K
title Root system size and precision in nutrient foraging: responses to spatial pattern of nutrient supply in six herbaceous species
title_short Root system size and precision in nutrient foraging: responses to spatial pattern of nutrient supply in six herbaceous species
title_full Root system size and precision in nutrient foraging: responses to spatial pattern of nutrient supply in six herbaceous species
title_fullStr Root system size and precision in nutrient foraging: responses to spatial pattern of nutrient supply in six herbaceous species
title_full_unstemmed Root system size and precision in nutrient foraging: responses to spatial pattern of nutrient supply in six herbaceous species
title_sort root system size and precision in nutrient foraging: responses to spatial pattern of nutrient supply in six herbaceous species
publisher Wiley-Blackwell
publishDate 2001
url http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/28936/
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2001.00618.x
genre Campanula rotundifolia
genre_facet Campanula rotundifolia
op_relation Wijesinghe, Dushyantha K, John, Elizabeth A, Beurskens, Simone and Hutchings, Michael J (2001) Root system size and precision in nutrient foraging: responses to spatial pattern of nutrient supply in six herbaceous species. Journal of Ecology, 89 (6). pp. 972-983. ISSN 0022-0477
op_doi https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2001.00618.x
container_title Journal of Ecology
container_volume 89
container_issue 6
container_start_page 972
op_container_end_page 983
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