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Bioscience Horizons Advance Access originally published online on April 24, 2008
Bioscience Horizons 2008 1(2):148-156; doi:10.1093/biohorizons/hzn011
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© 2008 The Author(s)
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

The effect and interaction of enhanced nitrogen deposition and reduced light on the growth of woodland ground flora

Natalie R. Andrews*

University of the West of England, Bristol, UK

* Corresponding author: 250 Headley Lane, Headley Park, Bristol BS13 7QE, UK. Tel: +44 7773612070. Email: nr-andrews{at}hotmail.co.uk

Supervisor: Dr Katy Ling, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK.


  Abstract

Woodland ground flora species Geranium robertianum, Prunella vulgaris and Deschampsia caespitosa were grown in greenhouse conditions under various light regimes (100%, 20% and 5% of ambient summer light) and were misted weekly with solutions of ammonium nitrate to simulate increased atmospheric wet and dry deposition of nitrogen (N) due to pollution at 0, 15 and 30 kg ha–1 year–1 concentrations. In the last 5 weeks of the study, the photosynthetic rate of G. robertianum was measured weekly. At the end of the 10-week-treatment period, the plants were harvested and growth was recorded using various measurable growth parameters. Growth of the plants and photosynthetic rate of G. robertianum were found to be primarily dependent on light availability, where reduced light levels showed a decrease in overall plant growth, indicating the importance of light in woodlands. N was not found to have an effect on the growth of the plants and thus questions arise over the calculations of critical loads of N deposition for woodland habitats. Five interactions were noted where increased N led to a significant reduction in growth at 20% light, yet a significant increase in growth at 100% light. These interactions were mainly noted for P. vulgaris, which could be explained by relatively large differences between its Ellenberg values for light and N, reflecting a preference for high light conditions and fairly infertile soils. G. robertianum was least affected by a reduction in light, reflecting its preference for semi-shaded conditions.

Key words: Ellenberg values, nitrogen, light, woodland, critical loads, ground flora

Submitted on 21 September 2007; accepted on 21 December 2007


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