Two species of plant are both limited by nitrogen. When grown in isolation, litt

Question

Two species of plant are both limited by nitrogen. When grown in isolation, little blue stem reaches a carrying capacity of 100 stems/m2 (at which point, the nitrogen concentration, [N], is 0.3 mg/kg of soil. Ragweed, when grown in isolation, reaches a carrying capacity of 50 (at which point, [N]=0.1 mg/kg of soil).

A) What are the final densities of the two plant species if they are grown together and Nitrogen is limiting? ______

B) What is the “final” concentration of nitrogen in the soil (at equilibrium? _______

Explanation / Answer

Carrying capacity of a plant is the maximum population size of a species in a given environment of food, water and minerals. The density of plants decreases when the concentration of nitrogen increases.

A) The plant bluestem has double the carrying capacity than the ragweed(100 stems/m2 for bluestem and 50 stems/m2 for ragweed).This is because the nitrogen concentration in the soil where bluestem is grown is lower than that of the soil where ragweed is grown. When both are grown together and nitrogen is limiting the final density of bluestem would decrease if the nitrogen concentration of the soil is more than 0.3mg/kg and that of ragweed would increase.

B) The final concentration of nitrogen in the soil at equilibrium would depend on the temperature of the soil and the concentration of the reactants.

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