Interactions of the hemiparasitic species .i.Rhinanthus minor./i. with its host plant community at two nutrient levels

0351538 - BC 2011 RIV CZ eng J - Journal Article
Mudrák, Ondřej - Lepš, Jan
Interactions of the hemiparasitic species Rhinanthus minor with its host plant community at two nutrient levels.
Folia Geobotanica. Roč. 45, č. 4 (2010), s. 407-424. ISSN 1211-9520. E-ISSN 1874-9348
Grant - others:GA AV ČR(CZ) IAA601410805
Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z60660521; CEZ:AV0Z50070508
Keywords : community structure * competition * density dependence
Subject RIV: EH - Ecology, Behaviour
Impact factor: 1.229, year: 2010

For root hemiparasites, host plants are both the source of water and nutrients below-ground, but competitors for light above-ground. Hemiparasites can reduce host biomass, and in this way considerably affect the whole plant community. To investigate these effects, we carried out two experiments in an oligotrophic meadow with a native population of Rhinanthus minor. In the first experiment, removal of R. minor was combined with fertilization in a factorial design, and in the second one, we manipulated R. minor density by thinning. The presence of R. minor decreased the biomass of its host community, mostly by suppressing grasses. In this way, the species was able to counterbalance the effect of fertilization, which increased community biomass and in particular that of grasses. Neither the presence of R. minor nor fertilization affected the total number of species or the Shannon-Wiener diversity index (H’) of the host community.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0006169