An analysis of competition between plants of Trifolium repens L. populations collected from contrasting soils.
Abstract
The effects of competition between ecologically contrasting populations from acid and calcareous soils were investigated in a pot experiment. The effects of root competition were generally greater than those of shoot competition. Populations from calcareous soil had better shoot competitive ability especially on acid soil. Populations had greater root competitive ability on their natural soil. There was competition for P on both soils. The respective correlation coefficients for relationships between competitive ability and yields were r = 0.96, 0.79 for calcareous and acid soils and 0.80 for the overall relationship. Neither shoot nor root competitive ability was correlated with yield.