caa a22 4500 475751248 CHVBK 20180406123524.0 cr unu---uuuuu 170329e20000201xx s 000 0 eng 10.1023/A:1009811117681 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1023/A:1009811117681 Vertical structure of a species-rich grassland canopy, treated with additional illumination, fertilization and mowing [Elektronische Daten] [Jaan Liira, Kristjan Zobel] The canopy architecture of herbaceous communities has received little attention despite its obvious relevance for how plants interact. The objective of this study was to determine how the position of species within the canopy of a species-rich grassland depends on nutrient availability, light availability, and mowing regime. To enhance the generality of the results, species were classified into four growth-form groups according to two important morphological traits - narrow vs. wide leaves, leafy vs. leafless stem - grasses, sedges, upright forbs and rosette forbs. Vertical structure of the canopy was examined by point quadrat sampling of 40×40cm permanent plots, treated by fertilization, additional illumination and mowing. As expected, fertilization and cessation of mowing allowed plants to grow taller, an effect of additional illumination was not detected. The relative height of species in the canopy was related to their leaf and stem morphology - species with narrow leaves and/or with a leafy stem were significantly taller. In addition, each growth-form group had a characteristic relative height: grasses >sedges >upright forbs >rosette forbs. All the experimental treatments led to a smaller number of more clearly distinguishable canopy strata with certain growth-form group(s) dominating in each. In (non-fertilized, non-illuminated and mown) control plots the dominance of grasses in the upper canopy layers was the most obvious - the remaining plants tended to improve their vertical position with all manipulations. The two contrasting growth-form groups - grasses and rosette forbs - responded similarily to illumination, becoming relatively shorter with added light. Sedges and upright forbs used additional light to 'simprove' their position in the canopy. Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2000 Additional illumination nationallicence Canopy structure nationallicence Fertilization nationallicence Grassland community nationallicence Growth-form nationallicence Mowing nationallicence Liira Jaan Department of Botany and Ecology, Tartu University, 40 Lai St., EE 51005, Tartu, Estonia aut Zobel Kristjan Department of Botany and Ecology, Tartu University, 40 Lai St., EE 51005, Tartu, Estonia aut Plant Ecology Kluwer Academic Publishers 146/2(2000-02-01), 183-193 1385-0237 146:2<183 2000 146 11258 https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009811117681 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009811117681 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Liira Jaan Department of Botany and Ecology, Tartu University, 40 Lai St., EE 51005, Tartu, Estonia aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Zobel Kristjan Department of Botany and Ecology, Tartu University, 40 Lai St., EE 51005, Tartu, Estonia aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Plant Ecology Kluwer Academic Publishers 146/2(2000-02-01), 183-193 1385-0237 146:2<183 2000 146 11258 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer