Abstract
The primary production and below-ground biomass of angiosperms were measured in four almost monospecific vegetation stands situated on a salt marsh along the Oosterschelde estuary, The Netherlands.
Maximum below-ground biomass values found for Spartina anglica, Elymus pycnanthus, Halimione portulacoides and Triglochin maritima, were very high relative to values reported from other European salt marshes: 12 586, 9 717, 17 737 and 16 121 g m-2 respectively. These relatively high values may be due to the fineness of the sieve used, compared to other studies. The actual values are likely to be even higher because the sample treatment has probably caused loss of fine root material.
Below-ground production estimates, based on the difference between maximum and minimum biomass, yielded: 6 044 g m-2 yr-1 for Spartina, 4 421 g m-2 yr-1 for Elymus, 7 799 g m-2 yr-1 for Halimione and 3 475 g m-2 yr-1 for Triglochin. This high production is mainly concentrated in the deeper layers of the root environment (20–60 cm). Although these production figures are considerably higher than those generally reported for comparable species or vegetation types in Europe, statistical evidence suggests that, for the first three species, they are real values rather than figures caused by random fluctuations.
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Nomenclature of the plants follows Tutin et al. (1980), Flora Europaea, Cambridge.
Communication no. 358 of the Delta Institute for Hydrobiological Research, Yerseke.
We are especially indebted to J. van Soelen for his help in the field, to A. van Steen for treating the soil samples and to Prof. Dr M. J. A. Werger and Dr P. Ketner for criticism on the manuscript.
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Groenendijk, A.M., Vink-Lievaart, M.A. Primary production and biomass on a Dutch salt marsh: emphasis on the below-ground component. Vegetatio 70, 21–27 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00040754
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00040754