American Journal of Botany · 1975 · 201 citations · 4 references
AgriculturePlant BiologyPlant SciencesPlant EcologyPlant NutritionPlant PhysiologyNitrogen CycleNitrogen ManagementNitrogen NutritionNutrient LimitationSalt Marsh EcologySalt MarshesAboveground Growth SuppressionAerial CompositionBody Elemental CompositionBulk Elemental CompositionNitrogen Allocation To GrowthNitrogen Effects On BiomassNitrogen RegulationSalt Marsh Plant Communities
A nitrogen (ammonium nitrate) pulse of 200 kg ha“ 1 was added to stands of tall (1.0–1.5 m) Spartina alterniflora , short (< 0.5 m) Spartina alterniflora , and Juncus roemerianus in a Georgia salt marsh in July. The major response ten weeks later was an increase in the aerial biomass and a sharp reduction in the C/N ratio in short Spartina alterniflora. One year after the treatment the difference between the biomass in enriched and control plots was greater than ten weeks after treatment, but the C/N ratio in the plants in the treated plots had risen to that of the controls. The availability of nitrogen appears to limit growth in the middle elevation Georgia salt marsh (short S. alterniflora ), but not in the lower (tall S. alterniflora ) or higher ( J. roemerianus ) portions.
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