Limiting Nutrients for Plant Growth in Coastal Sand Dune Soils

Kachi, Naoki; Hirose, Tadaki

doi:10.2307/2259603

Cited by 104 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Based on a review of 40 fertilization studies, Koerselman and Meuleman (1996) showed that the tissue N/P ratio > 16 indicates P limitation on a community level, while N/P ratio < 14 is indicative of N limitation. A few studies have also reported that plants growing in coastal sand dune areas were limited by N rather than P (Kachi and Hirose, 1983;Koerselman, 1992).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Growth of Phragmites japonica on a sandbar of regulated river: morphological adaptation of the plant to low water and nutrient availability in the substrate

Asaeda

Siong

Kawashima

et al. 2008

River Research & Apps

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The construction of upstream dams regulates flood magnitudes, reduces the inundation frequency of the riparian zones and curtails the discharge of sediments to the downstream. Adaptation of a Phragmites japonica colony growing at a rarely flooded sandbar (1.4 Â 0.25 km) was investigated. Above-and belowground biomass was sampled, together with litters on the ground surface of a quadrat and soil in the rhizosphere. Five sampling locations were selected with three locations located in sandy and two in stony areas. The results showed the total biomass and the ratio of above-to belowground biomasses were larger at the sandy sites than the stony sites. However, the fraction of root biomass (i.e. root to rhizome ratio) in the belowground biomass at the stony sites was higher than that at the sandy sites. Higher aboveground and total plant biomass in the sandy areas was because the plants had better access to water and nutrients than plants growing in stony beds. A higher proportion of root biomass, at the expense of rhizome biomass, in the belowground biomass of plant growing in stony sites was due to the difficulty in accessing water and inorganic nutrients. The ratios of nitrogen (N) to phosphorus (P) in the plant tissues were mostly between 5 and 10, indicating that plant growth was N limited. Low ratios of total N (TN) to total P (TP) were also recorded in soil samples, where TN was 300-700 mg/kg and TP was 300-350 mg/kg. A wide phenotypic plasticity observed in P. japonica was an importance factor to maximize the plant survival and fitness in frequently disturbed habitats, and this plasticity was the result of both true adjustment and ontogenetic drift. A mitigation effort, aimed to prevent coarsening of the riverbed by supplying sand to the downstream, can actually advance the development of P. japonica colonies.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Growth of Phragmites japonica on a sandbar of regulated river: morphological adaptation of the plant to low water and nutrient availability in the substrate

Asaeda

Siong

Kawashima

et al. 2008

River Research & Apps

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“…Data on fruit-bearing obtained from field cultivation experiments carried out in a semifixed dune area are shown in Table 2 Kachi and Hirose (1983) considered that nitrogen was the major nutrient limiting plant growth on sand dunes. Samples for the determination of soil nitrogen content were collected on October 10, 1987 at two sites: one was 500 m from the shoreline where only D. adscendens was present (sand dune site), and the other was 700 m away where both D. adscendens and E. indica were distributed sympatrically (outside sand dune site).…”

Section: Proportion Of Plants Bearing Fruitmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors limiting the distribution of Digitaria adscendens and Eleusine indica on coastal sand dunes in Japan

Park

1989

Ecological Research

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Fate of Digitaria adscendens and Eleusine indica seedlings under field conditions and their responses to salt spray, drought and nutrients were experimentally investigated in order to evaluate the possible mechanisms controlling the different distributions of the two species in coastal sand dune areas. Salt spray produced no apparent positive effect on the growth or survival of both species. Seeds of each species germinated well in the field, although 80 % of E. indica seedlings died during a summer drought and surviving seedlings neither grew nor bore fruit. The mortality of D. adscendens seedlings due to the drought was less than 10 % and the survivors mostly bore fruit by the end of the growth season. No major difference in the sublethal water saturation deficit was noticed between the two species. However, D. adscendens individuals extended their roots into the deep sandy soil to a much greater extent in water-stressed conditions than in well watered conditions, whereas E. indica showed no such behavior. Additional watering in a dune environment did not help the growth ofE. indica seedlings, but additional nutrients had a markedly stimulatory effect. D. adscendens maintained its growth and fruition with much smaller amounts of nutrients than E. indica. Soil nitrogen content at a site where E. indica and D. adscendens were distributed sympatrically was higher than that at a site where only D. adscendens was present. Based on these findings, it is proposed that E. indica seedlings are unable to become established because of their lower resistance to summer drought and the poor nutrient conditions present in a coastal rear sand dune habitat.

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“…Low nutrient pools were found in pioneer stages compared with older successional stages (Kellman & Roulet 1990;Olff et al 1993;Gerlach et al 1994). Fertilization experiments in pioneer stages showed that nitrogen was a limiting factor in dry dune soils; additions of only nitrogen or of nitrogen together with phosphorus and potassium led to increased biomass production (Lux 1964;Willis 1963;Boorman & Fuller 1982;Pemadasa 1983;Kachi & Hirose 1983). Phosphorus additions only hardly stimulated plant growth in young successional stages.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%