Productivity and plasticity of wheat and Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. in pure and mixed stands.
Abstract
Wheat and C. dactylon grown in pure stands at various densities up to 3200 plants/m2 responded to density stress by extreme plasticity but not mortality. In mixed stands wheat had a greater influence on the growth of C. dactylon than vice versa, though relative increases in the density of C. dactylon decreased the dry wt. yield, leaf area and seed production of wheat and, to a lesser extent, its seed wt. The nutrient uptake of the two species was influenced both by intra- and interspecific competition.-J.L.M.