Determination of root biomasses of three species grown in a mixture using stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen

Authors

H. Wayne Polley, USDAFollow
Hyrum B. Johnson, USDA
Herman S. Mayeux, USDA

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

1992

Comments

Published in Plant and Soil 142: 97-106, 1992.

Abstract

A method is evaluated that employs variation in stable C and N isotopes from fractionations in C and N acquisition and growth to predict root biomasses of three plant species in mixtures. Celtis laevigata Willd. (C₃), Prosopis glandulosa Torr. (C₃, legume) and Schizachyrium scoparium (Michx.) Nash (C₄), or Gossypium hirsutum L. (C₃), Glycine max (L.) Merr. (C₃ legume), and Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench (C₄) were grown together in separate, three-species combinations.