What is it about?
We carried out a meta-analysis of the effects of plant(ing) density on how plants perform and how they changed morphology, physiology, growth and reproduction. We compiled data from many agricultural, ecological, horticultural and silvicultural experiments and used a quantitative metric to analyze to what extent these traits change when plant density in monocultures is doubled.
Featured Image
Photo by Bence Balla-Schottner on Unsplash
Why is it important?
Plant density is in important factor which the farmer (or any other plant grower) can use to optimize growth and productivity. It is also highly relevant in ecology, as plants almost always face competition of neighbors and it is important to understand how they respond.
Perspectives
Some plants are better competitors than others, and some genotypes do better than others when grown at high density. Understanding the physiology of plant responses is very relevant, and maybe one of the most interesting aspects of plant biology!
Hendrik Poorter
Forschungszentrum Jülich
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Dividing the pie: A quantitative review on plant density responses, Plant Cell & Environment, December 2020, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1111/pce.13968.
You can read the full text:
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
