Table 1.
Morphological and physiological characteristics of C. foetida and K. myosuroides
| K. myosuroides | C. foetida | |
| Morphological characteristics | ||
| Mean dry biomass (g) | ||
| Aboveground | 2.6 (0.1) | 1.9 (0.1) |
| New roots | 0.51 (0.07) | 0.80 (0.09) |
| Old roots | 21.6 (1.8) | 28.00 (2.0) |
| Belowground productivity (g m−2 d−1) | 6.9 (1.8) a | 12.5 (0.6) b |
| Physiological characteristics | ||
| Assimilation rate during labelling (ng C g−1 leaf DW s−1) | 791.5 (20.3) a | 622.4 (13.3) b |
| Leaf respiration in darkness (ng C g−1 leaf DW s−1) | 63.5 (6.7) a | 100.3 (7.4) b |
| New root respiration (ng C g−1 new root DW s−1) | 233.6 (21.0) a | 206.3 (15.0) a |
| Old root respiration (ng C g−1 old root DW s−1) | 56.4 (4.3) a | 68.6 (13.0) a |
See text for further statistical details. Values are the mean ±SE (n=15, except for belowground productivity, where n=4, and assimilation rate, where n=12). Different letters indicate significant differences between the two species (P <0.05).