Environmental factors influencing herb layer productivity in Central European oak forests: insights from soil and biomass analyses and a phytometer experiment
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2011 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Plant and Soil |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | Fulltext on SpringerLink |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11104-010-0683-9 |
| Field | Botany |
| Keywords | Bioassay experiment`; Biomass; Czech Republic; Quercus woodland; Raphanus sativus; Soil chemistry |
| Description | Habitat productivity and vegetation biomass are important factors affecting species diversity and ecosystem function, but factors determining productivity are still insufficiently known, especially in the forest herb layer. These factors are difficult to identify because different methods often yield different results. We sampled the herb layer biomass and assessed soil nutrients, moisture and light availability in 100 m2 plots in Czech oak forests. Habitat productivity was estimated independently from nutrient content in the soil, herb layer biomass and using a bioassay experiment (growing phytometer plants of Raphanus sativus under standardised conditions in soil samples taken from forest plots). Combined evidence based on different approaches indicates that canopy shading and soil phosphorus tend to be the most important factors influencing the herb layer productivity of the studied oak forests. |
| Related projects: |