Abstract
Culture experiments are described in which Plantago lanceolata L. was grown from seedling till flowering under steady state conditions of optimum or suboptimum nitrate nutrition. In the optimum treatment, plants had free access to nitrate. In two suboptimum treatments, nitrate was added with constant relative addition rates (RAR) of 0.18 or 0.10 d−1 during the phase of constant relative uptake rates (RUR) of the plants and then with RAR's that were reduced stepwise from 0.18 to 0.07 d−1 or 0.10 to 0.04 d−1 when nutrient absorption gradually decreased. Reduction of the RAR's was aimed at maintenance of a balance between RAR and RUR. External nitrate concentrations were measured to monitor the reductions. In the vegetative phase, the relative growth rate (RGR) and the root weight ratio (RWR) of P. lanceolata were constant. In the reproductive phase, RGR's were constant, but lower, and RWR's decreased. Concentrations of organic-N in leaves were stable during the experimental period while those of the peduncles were lower and decreased with time. The ratio of reproductive to vegetative weight increased linearly with time. A number of plant parameters varied with N supply. ei]Section editor: T W Rufty
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Asher C J and Blamey F P 1987 Experimental control of nutrient status using programmed nutrient addition, J. Plant Nutr. 10, 1371–1380.
Braakhekke W G and Labe D A 1990 Steady state nutrition by transpiration controlled nutrient supply. In Plant Nutrition — Physiology and Applications. Ed. M L van Beusichem. pp 73–79. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht.
Brouwer R 1963 Some aspects of the equilibrium between overground and underground parts. Meded. Inst. Biol. Scheik. Onderz. Landb. Gewas. 213, 31–39.
Corré W J 1983 Growth and morphogenesis of sun and shade plants. III. The combined effects of light intensity and nutrient supply. Acta Bot. Neerl. 32, 277–294.
Dijkstra P and Lambers H 1989 A physiological analysis of genetic variation in relative growth rate within Plantago major L. Funct. Ecol. 3, 577–587.
Evans J R 1983 Nitrogen and photosynthesis in the flag leaf of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Plant Physiol. 72, 297–302.
Freijsen A H J, De Zwart A J and Otten H 1990 A culture system for steady state nutrition in optimum and suboptimum treatments. In Plant Nutrition — Physiology and Applications. Ed. M L van Beusichem. pp 81–85. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht.
Freijsen A H J and Otten H 1987 A comparison of the responses of two Plantago species to nitrate availability in culture experiments with exponential nutrient addition. Oecologia 74, 389–395.
Freijsen A H J, Troelstra S R, Otten H and Van der Meulen M A 1989 The relationship between the ambient nitrate concentration and plant parameters of Plantago lanceolata in culture experiments with exponential nutrient addition. Plant and Soil 117, 121–127.
Freijsen A H J and Veen B W 1990 Phenotypic variation in growth as affected by N-supply: Nitrogen productivity. In Causes and Consequences of Variation in Growth Rate and Productivity of Higher Plants. Eds. H Lambers, M L Cambridge, H Konings and T L Pons. pp 19–33. SPB Academic Publishing, The Hague.
Ingestad T 1979 Nitrogen stress in birch seedlings. II. N, K, P, Ca, and Mg nutrition. Physiol. Plant. 45, 149–157.
Ingestad T and Ågren G I 1992 Theories and methods on plant nutrition and growth. Physiol. Plant. 84, 177–184.
Ingestad T and Lund A-B 1979 Nitrogen stress in birch seedlings. I. Growth technique and growth. Physiol. Plant. 45, 137–148.
Kempers A J 1974 Determination of sub-microquantities of ammonium and nitrates in soils with phenol, sodiumnit-roprusside and hypochlorite. Geoderma 12, 201–206.
Lambers H and Poorter H 1992 Inherent variation in growth rate between higher plants: A search for physiological causes and ecological consequences. Adv. Ecol. Res. 23, 187–261.
Mattsson M, Lundborg T, Larsson M and Larsson C-M 1992 Nitrogen utilization in N-limited barley during vegetative and generative growth. II. Method for monitoring generative growth and development in solution culture. J. Exp. Bot. 43, 15–23.
Robinson D 1991 Strategies for optimising growth in response to nutrient supply. In Plant Growth: Interactions with Nutrition and Environment. Eds. J R Porter and D W Lawlor. pp 177–205. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Snyder W E 1948 Mechanism of the photoperiodic response of Plantago lanceolata L., a long-day plant. Am. J. Bot. 35, 520–525.
Troelstra S R 1983 Growth of Plantago lanceolata and Plantago major on a NO3/NH4 medium and the estimation of the utilization of nitrate and ammonium from ionicbalance aspects. Plant and Soil 70, 183–197.
Waite S and Hutchings M J 1982 Plastic energy patterns in Plantago coronopus. Oikos 38, 333–342.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Freijsen, A.H.J., Otten, H. Utilization of the ambient concentration as a criterion for steady state after exponential growth: Some culture experiments with optimum or suboptimum N nutrition. Plant Soil 151, 265–271 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00016292
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00016292