Summary
Cation-exchange capacity of living plant roots was measured by a method involving the measurement and separation of adsorption and absorption of potassium by electrodialysed roots.
The observed similarity in relative competition for phosphate and potassium by grasses with white clover is considered to be due to similarity in the distribution of these ions between roots of differing exchange capacities.
The competition offered by grasses for both phosphate and potassium was shown to be a function of both their root cation-exchange capacity and their rates of emergence.
It is concluded that the severe competition of browntop with white clover may be caused by nutrient competition and is a manirestation of the wide difference in cation-exchange capacity between these plants, while there is little evidence that competition for nutrients is the cause of suppression of clover by cocksfoot.
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Mouat, M.C.H., Walker, T.W. Competition for nutrients between grasses and white clover. Plant Soil 11, 41–52 (1959). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01394752
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01394752