Mineral composition of grassland species of the Eastern Great Basin in relation to stand productivity

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Floral and mineral composition of the vegetation on 12 foothill grassland sites in the Eastern Great Basin has been studied. Aboveground production differed widely among the sites (871–2388 kg/ha per year). Both floristic and mineral composition of the vegetation changed conspicuously across the productivity gradient. As production increased, total nutrient uptake by the aboveground vegetation also increased. This increase was only partially due to greater production; average nutrient content per gram of tissue (all species pooled) also increased along the productivity gradient.Roughly 82% of the variation in total annual production was accounted for using an index of site mesicness. Mesic sites were dominated by forbs, while grasses or shrubs were dominant on xeric sites. The mesic sites were far more productive than xeric sites. The greater nutrient element content of plant tissue from the most productive sites in this study was related more to a shift in dominance from grasses and shrubs to forbs, than to nutrient status of the soil.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: