Summary
The role of soil Phosphorus (P) availability on the ecotypic differentiation of plants was investigated. Populations of Aegilops peregrina (Hack.) were collected from four habitats which differed in their soil P. The four soils were: Meron (a P-deficient montmorillonitic xerochrept on dolomite), Malkiya (a P-fertile kaolinitic xerochrept on hard limestone), Har-Hurshan and Bet-Guvrin (lithic xerorthents on soft limestone with appreciable amounts of P, mainly as carbonate-apatite).
Plants of the four populations were grown in pots with Meron soil which were previously equilibrated with four different amounts of soluble phosphate to give 1.2, 3.1, 10.7 and 18.9 μgP g-1 soil of sodium-bicarbonate extractable P. Plants originated from Malkiya population produced higher dry matter yields than the other three populations. Dry matter yields of the various populations were analyzed by means of a Mitcherlich's response function, versus sodium-bicarbonate extractable (‘available’) soil P. The analysis revealed that Malkiya population plants had a significant advantage over Meron population plants in the response parameter c: this express the response rate of the plants to phosphate by means of dry matter production. With regard to the parameter Po, which represents the ability of plants to utilize barely-available fractions of soil P, the opposite was true. Har-Hurshan and Bet-Guvrin populations were intermediate in these two parameters. A version of the Mitcherlich response function is proposed, which expresses plant yield as a function of both soil ‘available’ P and plant age.
Meron plants contained the highest percentage of P in plant material, but compared to the other populations, they were the most inefficient in producing dry matter from the already absorbed P. Plants from the calcareous soils, Har-Hurshan and Bet-Guvrin, did not show any apparent trend.
In soils which contain moderate amounts of lime, P may become a major limiting growth factor. Plant populations became adapted to low availability of P by (1) improving their ability to utilize barely-available soil P fractions and (2), by decreasing their productivity.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Antonovics J, Lovett J, Bradshaw AD (1967) The evolution of adaptation to nutritional factors in populations of herbage plants. In: Isotopes in plant nutrition and physiology. IAEA Symp Vienna p 549–567
Barta AL (1977) Uptake and translocation of calcium and phosphorus in Lolium perenne in response to N supplied to halves of the divided root system. Physiol Plant 39:211–214
Beadle NCW (1962) Soil phosphate and the delimination of plant communities in eastern Australia. Ecol 43:281–288
Beadle NCW (1966) Soil phosphate and its role in molding segments of the Australian flora and vegetation, with special reference to xeromorphy and sclerophylly. Ecol 47:992–1007
Begg JE, Wright MJ (1962) Growth and development of leaves from intercalary meristems in Phalaris arundinaceae L. Nature 194:1097–1098
Bergh JP van der (1968) Distribution of pasture plants in relation to chemical properties of the soil. In: IH Rorison (ed), Ecological aspects of the mineral nutrition of plants. Symp British Ecol Soc p 11–23
Bilde J de (1978) Nutrient adaptation in native and experimental calcicolous and siliceous populations of Silene nutans. Oikos 31:383–391
Clausen J, Keck DD, Hiesey WM (1948) Experimental studies on the nature of species III: Environmental responses of climatic races of Achillea. Carnegie Inst, Washington, Publ No 581, 129 pp
Davies MS, Snaydon RW (1974) Physiological differences among populations of Anthoxanthum odoratum L Collected from the Park Grass Experiment, Rothamsted III: Response to phosphate. J Appl Ecol 11:699–708
Drake M, Steckel JE (1955) Solubilization of soil and rock phosphate as related to root cation exchange capacity. Soil Sci Soc Am Proc 19:449–450
Fox RL, Kacar B (1964) Phosphorus mobilization in a calcareous soil in relation to surface properties of roots and cation uptake. Pl Soil 20:319–330
Gianinazzi-Pearson V (1976) Les Mycorhize endotrophes: E'tat actuel des connaissances et possibilities d'application dans la pratique culturale. Ann Phytopathol 8:249–256
Goodin JR (1972) Chemical regulation of growth in leaves and tillers. In: VB Younger and CM McKell (eds), The Biology and utilization of grasses. Academic Press, New York p 135–145
Goodman PJ (1968) Intra-specific variation in mineral nutrition of plants from different habitats. In: IH Rorison (ed), Ecological aspects of the mineral nutrition of plants. Symp British Ecol Soc p 237–253
Grant V (1963) The origin of adaptation. Columbia Univ Press, New York, 606 p
Hoagland DR, Arnon DI (1950) The water-culture method for growing plants without soil. California Agr Exp Sta, Circ 347, 32 p
Jakobsen ST (1978) Growth rate and uptake rates of calcium and phosphate in barley. In: Applied statistics and experimental design. NEUCC Symp Denmark, p 26–49
McCants CB, Black CA (1957) A biological slope-ratio method for evaluating nutrient availability in soils. Soil Sci Soc Am Proc 21:296–301
McLachlan KD (1976) Comparative phosphorus responses in plants to a range of available phosphorus situations. Aust J Agric Res 27:323–341
Mitcherlich EA (1909) Das Gesetz des Minimums und das Gesetz des abnehmenden Bodenertrages. Landw Jahrb 38:537–552
Montgomery EG (1912) Competition in cereals. Bull Nebrasca Agr Exp Sta 26, art 5, p 1–22
Nye PH, Tinker PB (1977) Solute movement in the soil-root system. Studies in ecology Vol 4, Blackwell, Oxford, 342 p
Peaslee DE (1978) Relationship between relative crop yield, soil test phosphorus levels, and fertilizer requirements for phosphorus. Comm Soil Sci Pl Anal 9:429–442
Percival J (1921) The wheat plant: A monograph. Duckworth, London, 463 p
Piggot CD, Taylor K (1964) The distribution of some woodland herbs in relation to the supply of nitrogen and phosphorus in the soil. J Ecol 52 (Suppl): 175–185
Russell RS, Russell EW, Marais PG (1958) Factors affecting the ability of plants to absorb phosphate from soil II. A comparison of the ability of different species to absorb labile soil phosphate. J Soil Sci 9:101–108
Schenk MK, Barber SA (1979) Root characteristics of corn genotypes as related to P uptake. Agron J 71:921–924
Silberbush M (1980) The evolution of adaptation of plant populations to phosphorus-deficient soils. Ph D thesis, Tel-Aviv Univ, Israel
Shaver GR, Chapin FS, Billing WD (1979) Ecotypic differentiation in Carex aquatilis on ice-wedge polygons in the Alaskan tundra. J Ecol 67:1025–1046
Snaydon RW (1962) The growth and competitive ability of contrasting natural populations of Trifolium repens L when grown on acid and calcareous soils. J Ecol 50:439–447
Snaydon RW, Bradshaw AG (1962) Differences between natural populations of Trifolium repens L in response to mineral nutrients. I Phosphate. J Exp Bot 13:422–434
Turesson G (1922) The species and variety as ecological units. Heriditas 3:211–350
Watanabe FS, Olsen SR (1965) The ascorbic acid method for determining P in water and NaHCO3 extracts from soil. Soil Sci Soc Am Proc 29:677–678
Williams RF (1948) The effects of phosphorus supply on the rates of intake of phosphorus and nitrogen and upon certain aspects of phosphorus metabolism in gramineous plants. Aust J Biol Sci 1:333–362
Waisel Y (1972) Biology of halophytes. Academic Press, New York, 395 p
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Silberbush, M., Waisel, Y. & Kafkafi, U. The role of soil Phosphorus in differentiation of edaphic ecotypes in Aegilops peregrina . Oecologia 49, 419–424 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00347610
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00347610