The role of water and nutrient availability in determining above and below ground allocations in a C4 grass Stipagrotis ciliata desf. de Winter

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dc.contributor.advisorCarrick, Peter Jen_ZA
dc.contributor.advisorFebruary, Edmund Cen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorMoore, Timothy Een_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2017-12-06T10:30:50Z
dc.date.available2017-12-06T10:30:50Z
dc.date.issued2007en_ZA
dc.date.updated2017-02-02T13:11:14Z
dc.description.abstractIn order to understand the impacts climate change will have on plants it is important to understand the role of functional diversity in determining plant success across a range of environments. Two populations of Stipagrostis ciliata were compared at two sites - drier coastal and wetter inland - that varied in their water and nutrient availability. Analysis indicates an inverse relationship between rainfall and N availability, with the drier coastal site having significantly lower soil and plant δ¹⁵N (Zadi= -1.964, p<0.05). Plant percent N decreased by 63% between the coastal and inland site. Mean root: shoot ratios also differed significantly between sites (Zadi= -1.964, p<0.05). Although total rooting depth did not appear to differ between sites, in total more root material was found per plant at the inland site, with 40% of all root material occurring directly below the plant. At the coastal site, a greater proportion of root material was allocated laterally in the upper 10cm of soil. As expected, water use efficiency, based on δ¹³C, was higher at the drier coastal site. It is proposed that plants will alter above and below- ground allocation depending on the nature of the limiting resource. In dry environments, more root material in upper soil layers, and a faster growth rate associated with higher shoot allocation, may enhance water uptake. Where nutrients are limiting, increased root biomass might increase nutrient, especially N interception. Competition may also be higher at low nutrient sites.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationMoore, T. E. (2007). <i>The role of water and nutrient availability in determining above and below ground allocations in a C4 grass Stipagrotis ciliata desf. de Winter</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Biological Sciences. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/26459en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationMoore, Timothy E. <i>"The role of water and nutrient availability in determining above and below ground allocations in a C4 grass Stipagrotis ciliata desf. de Winter."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Biological Sciences, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/26459en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationMoore, T. 2007. The role of water and nutrient availability in determining above and below ground allocations in a C4 grass Stipagrotis ciliata desf. de Winter. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Moore, Timothy E AB - In order to understand the impacts climate change will have on plants it is important to understand the role of functional diversity in determining plant success across a range of environments. Two populations of Stipagrostis ciliata were compared at two sites - drier coastal and wetter inland - that varied in their water and nutrient availability. Analysis indicates an inverse relationship between rainfall and N availability, with the drier coastal site having significantly lower soil and plant δ¹⁵N (Zadi= -1.964, p&lt;0.05). Plant percent N decreased by 63% between the coastal and inland site. Mean root: shoot ratios also differed significantly between sites (Zadi= -1.964, p&lt;0.05). Although total rooting depth did not appear to differ between sites, in total more root material was found per plant at the inland site, with 40% of all root material occurring directly below the plant. At the coastal site, a greater proportion of root material was allocated laterally in the upper 10cm of soil. As expected, water use efficiency, based on δ¹³C, was higher at the drier coastal site. It is proposed that plants will alter above and below- ground allocation depending on the nature of the limiting resource. In dry environments, more root material in upper soil layers, and a faster growth rate associated with higher shoot allocation, may enhance water uptake. Where nutrients are limiting, increased root biomass might increase nutrient, especially N interception. Competition may also be higher at low nutrient sites. DA - 2007 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2007 T1 - The role of water and nutrient availability in determining above and below ground allocations in a C4 grass Stipagrotis ciliata desf. de Winter TI - The role of water and nutrient availability in determining above and below ground allocations in a C4 grass Stipagrotis ciliata desf. de Winter UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/26459 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/26459
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationMoore TE. The role of water and nutrient availability in determining above and below ground allocations in a C4 grass Stipagrotis ciliata desf. de Winter. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Biological Sciences, 2007 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/26459en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Biological Sciencesen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Scienceen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherBotanyen_ZA
dc.titleThe role of water and nutrient availability in determining above and below ground allocations in a C4 grass Stipagrotis ciliata desf. de Winteren_ZA
dc.typeBachelor Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelHonours
dc.type.qualificationnameBSc (Hons)en_ZA
uct.type.filetype
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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