Anatomical, morphological and growth responses of Thinopyrum ponticum plants subjected to partial and complete submergence during early stages of development.

Seedling recruitment and growth of forage grasses in flood-prone grasslands is often impaired by submergence. We evaluate the responses of Thinopyrum ponticum (Podp.) Barkw.

The allocation of assimilated carbon to shoot growth: in situ assessment in natural grasslands reveals nitrogen effects and interspecific differences.

In grasslands, sustained nitrogen loading would increase the proportion of assimilated carbon allocated to shoot growth (A shoot), because it would decrease allocation to roots and also encourage the contribution of species with inherently high A shoot. However, in situ measurements of carbon allocation are scarce. Therefore, it is unclear to what extent species that coexist in grasslands actually differ in their allocation strategy or in their response to nitrogen.

13C-labeling shows the effect of hierarchy on the carbon gain of individuals and functional groups in dense field stands.

Measurements of resource capture by individuals, species, or functional groups coexisting in field stands improve our ability to investigate the ecophysiological basis of plant competition. But methodological and technical difficulties have limited the use of such measurements. Carbon capture, in particular, is difficult to asses in heterogeneous, dense field stands.

A comparative analysis of the temperature response of leaf elongation in Bromus stamineus and Lolium perenne plants in the field: intrinsic and size-mediated effects.

Background And Aims: Growth of grass species in temperate-humid regions is restricted by low temperatures. This study analyses the origin (intrinsic or size-mediated) and mechanisms (activity of individual meristems vs. number of active meristems) of differences between Bromus stamineus and Lolium perenne in the response of leaf elongation to moderately low temperatures.