Table 4.
Above- and below-ground characteristics and tensile strength for three PFTs: life form, growth form and root type (for details see Materials and Methods)
| PFT | Plant height (cm) | Shoot biomass (g) | Root biomass (g) | Root depth (cm) | Root expansion (cm) | Total root length (cm) | Root diameter (mm) | Tensile strength (N mm−2) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Life form | ||||||||
| Graminoids | 17·08 (1·64)a | 0·89 (0·14) | 0·49 (0·10) | 12·72 (1·23) | 38·80 (1·66) | 106·63 (25·06)a | 0·87 (0·03) | 27·09 (1·49)a |
| Forbs | 8·89 (0·59)b | 0·47 (0·09) | 0·27 (0·08) | 17·66 (2·71) | 40·17 (5·74) | 5·63 (0·84)b | 1·23 (0·13) | 5·78 (0·41)b |
| Shrubs | 4·85 (1·05)b | 0·38 (0·04) | 0·53 (0·13) | 11·90 (1·07) | 80·20 (10·26) | 7·33 (1·28)b | 1·23 (0·02) | 6·10 (0·26)b |
| Growth form | ||||||||
| Caespitosa | 15·16 (1·54) | 0·80 (0·12) | 0·55 (0·09) | 11·96 (1·01) | 67·80 (7·07) | 87·33 (21·44)a | 0·95 (0·04)ab | 26·91 (1·49)a |
| Reptantia | 2·20 (0·37) | 0·30 (0·06) | 0·24 (0·06) | 13·20 (0·73) | 63·60 (14·34) | 4·51 (1·10) | 1·19 (0·03) | 6·10 (0·41) |
| Scaposa | 11·10 (1·17) | 0·56 (0·18) | 0·15 (0·05) | 11·70 (1·70) | 52·89 (7·36) | 6·78 (1·36)ab | 0·58 (0·03)a | 7·21 (0·50)b |
| Semi-rosulata | 7·89 (0·58) | 0·43 (0·10) | 0·34 (0·11) | 20·36 (3·75) | 34·45 (7·44) | 5·11 (1·05)b | 1·52 (1·14)b | 4·79 (0·24)b |
| Root type | ||||||||
| Fibrous | 17·08 (1·64)a | 0·89 (0·14) | 0·49 (0·10) | 12·72 (1·23) | 38·80 (1·66) | 106·63 (25·06)a | 0·87 (0·03)a | 27·09 (1·49)a |
| Lateral | 9·06 (0·74)ab | 0·38 (0·08) | 0·19 (0·04) | 14·06 (1·16) | 50·23 (6·03) | 7·02 (0·89)b | 0·91 (0·06)a | 5·54 (0·33)b |
| Plate | 4·85 (1·05)b | 0·38 (0·04) | 0·53 (0·13) | 11·90 (1·07) | 80·20 (10·26) | 7·33 (1·28)b | 1·23 (0·02)ab | 6·10 (0·41)ab |
| Tap | 8·29 (0·65)ab | 0·77 (0·24) | 0·60 (0·34) | 30·50 (10·90) | 8·57 (5·53) | 0·68 (0·24)c | 2·38 (0·19)b | 6·49 (0·40)b |
Values are means with s.e.m. in parentheses. Within a column and PFT, values that share a common letter do not differ significantly according to Tukey HSD (P < 0·05); other variables did not differ significantly among a PFT classification.