Nitrogen and phosphorous are critical determinants of plant growth and productivity, and both plant growth and root morphology are important parameters for evaluating the effects of supplied nutrients. Previous work has shown that the growth of Acer mono seedlings is retarded under nursery conditions; we applied different levels of N (0, 5, 10, and 15 g plant-1) and P (0, 4, 6 and 8 g plant-1) fertilizer to investigate the effects of fertilization on the growth and root morphology of four-year-old seedlings in the field. Our results indicated that both N and P application significantly affected plant height, root collar diameter, chlorophyll content, and root morphology. Among the nutrient levels, 10 g N and 8 g P were found to yield maximum growth, and the maximum values of plant height, root collar diameter, chlorophyll content, and root morphology were obtained when 10 g N and 8 g P were used together. Therefore, the present study demonstrates that optimum levels of N and P can be used to improve seedling health and growth during the nursery period.

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Influence of nitrogen and phosphorous on the growth and root morphology of Acer mono.

http://leg.ufpr.br/lib/exe/fetch.php/projetos:apspcs:soilrespirationfineroots.pdf

Soil respiration, fine root production, and microbial biomass in cottonwood and loblolly pine plantations along a nitrogen fertilization gradient

By means of meta-analyses we determined how 70 traits related to plant anatomy, morphology, chemistry, physiology, growth and reproduction are affected by daily light integral (DLI; mol photons m-2 d-1 ). A large database including 500 experiments with 760 plant species enabled us to determine generalized dose-response curves. Many traits increase with DLI in a saturating fashion. Some showed a more than 10-fold increase over the DLI range of 1-50 mol m-2 d-1 , such as the number of seeds produced per plant and the actual rate of photosynthesis. Strong decreases with DLI (up to three-fold) were observed for leaf area ratio and leaf payback time. Plasticity differences among species groups were generally small compared with the overall responses to DLI. However, for a number of traits, including photosynthetic capacity and realized growth, we found woody and shade-tolerant species to have lower plasticity. We further conclude that the direction and degree of trait changes adheres with responses to plant density and to vertical light gradients within plant canopies. This synthesis provides a strong quantitative basis for understanding plant acclimation to light, from molecular to whole plant responses, but also identifies the variables that currently form weak spots in our knowledge, such as respiration and reproductive characteristics.

https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/nph.15754

A meta-analysis of plant responses to light intensity for 70 traits ranging from molecules to whole plant performance.

The distribution and abundance of invasive species can be strongly influenced by habitat suitability and by corridors that facilitate dispersal. We synthesize results from a large-scale invasive plant survey with a patch-scale expansion experiment. The large-scale survey involved transects up to 250 m away from of all roads in a 32,000 ha forest. The patch experiment involved initiating invasions in different habitat types (roadside, wetland, disturbed, and intact forests), and then fitting statistical models to patch spread rates. The large-scale survey highlighted the importance of roads in predicting the presence of invasive plants, also revealing that one invasive plant, Microstegium vimineum, has spread rapidly since its purported introduction in 1994. The patch-scale experiments focused on Microstegium and demonstrated that spread rates are higher in roadsides than in forested and wetland patches, even in the absence of major disturbances. These results highlight the importance of landscape...

https://bioone.org/journals/invasive-plant-science-and-management/volume-2/issue-3/IPSM-08-125.1/Forest-Roads-Facilitate-the-Spread-of-Invasive-Plants/10.1614/IPSM-08-125.1.pdf

Forest Roads Facilitate the Spread of Invasive Plants

Cogongrass is considered to be one of the ten most troublesome and problematic weedy species in the world. This species is found throughout tropical and subtropical regions, generally in areas dist...

Cogongrass (Imperata cylindrica)—Biology, Ecology, and Management

Growth, nutrition, photosynthesis and transpiration responses of longleaf pine seedlings to light, water and nitrogen

Growth response of longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) seedlings to fertilization and herbaceous weed control in an old field in southern USA

Cogongrass (imperata cylindrica), an alien grass listed as a federal noxious weed, has become a force to reckon with in the forestlands of the southeastern United States. Accidentally introduced in 1912 in packing material from Japan, the weed has negatively affected both natural and planted forests. Knowledge about the biology and management of cogongrass among foresters and land managers in the region is the greatest help in the fight against this alien species. An integrated management approach using all available methods is necessary to control cogongrass.

Alien Plant Invasions: The Story of Cogongrass in Southeastern Forests

Cogongrass [Imperata cylindrica (L.) Beauv.] response to herbicides and disking on a cutover site and in a mid-rotation pine plantation in southern USA

Sara Merritt

Papers

Growth, nutrition, photosynthesis and transpiration responses of longleaf pine seedlings to light, water and nitrogen

Growth response of longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) seedlings to fertilization and herbaceous weed control in an old field in southern USA

Alien Plant Invasions: The Story of Cogongrass in Southeastern Forests

Cogongrass [Imperata cylindrica (L.) Beauv.] response to herbicides and disking on a cutover site and in a mid-rotation pine plantation in southern USA