Soil nitrogen: Traits: Competition and Resource Reduction for Five Grass Species Grown in Monoculture and Competition in Soils with Different Nitrogen Availabilities

This experiment was designed to determine the relationships between plant traits, successional status, and resource reduction for five grass species that were grown for three years in monoculture in replicated field plots on soils prepared to have different availabilities of nitrogen. It also determines the results of competition experiments among various combinations of these species as well as the differing feedback effects of each species on soil nitrogen mineralization rates. All of this work has motivated the desire to more fully understand the mechanisms of interactions among plants and their resources, in the belief that this might eventually allow predictions of the dynamics, diversity, and composition of plant communities.

本实验旨在明确5种禾本科植物的性状、演替地位与资源消减之间的关联。实验中，这些植物以单作（monoculture）模式种植于经调控以获得差异化氮有效性的重复田间样地内，培育周期长达三年。本实验同时测定了这些物种不同组合间的竞争实验结果，以及各物种对土壤氮矿化速率产生的差异化反馈效应。上述所有研究工作均旨在推动对植物与其资源间相互作用机制的深入理解，学界普遍认为该研究最终可实现对植物群落动态、多样性与组成的精准预测。