The pattern of resource allocation to reproduction vs. vegetative growth is a core component of a plant's life-history strategy. Plants can modify their biomass allocation patterns to adapt to contrasting environments. Meristems can have alternative fates to commit to vegetative growth, reproduction, or remaining inactive (dormant or senescent/dead). However, knowledge about whether meristem fa...

Plant species richness of permanent grasslands has often been found to be significantly associated with productivity. Concentrations of nutrients in biomass can give further insight into these productivity-plant species richness relationships, e.g. by reflecting land use or soil characteristics. However, the consistency of such relationships across different regions has rarely been taken into a...

Because it has a high demand for sulphur (S), oilseed rape is particularly sensitive to S limitation. However, the physiological effects of S limitation remain unclear, especially during the rosette stage. For this reason a study was conducted to determine the effects of mineral S limitation on nitrogen (N) and S uptake and remobilization during vegetative growth of oilseed rape at both the who...

An ecosystem-level experiment was conducted to identify the nutrient most limiting to productivity and biomass in the marine lagoons of the northeast United States. Mesocosms containing a complex of species characteristic of shallow coastal marine environments were enriched with P alone, N alone, or combined N plus P, at loadings typical of highly enriched natural lagoons. The mesocosms showed ...

The plant pathogen Agrobacterium tumefaciens forms architecturally complex biofilms on inert surfaces. Adherence of A. tumefaciens C58 was significantly enhanced under phosphate limitation compared to phosphate-replete conditions, despite slower overall growth under low-phosphate conditions. Replacement of Pi with sn-glycerol-3-phosphate and 2-aminoethylphosphonate yielded similar results. The ...

Mass blooms of Arthrospira (Spirulina) have been reported in waste stabilisation ponds treating tannery wastewaters and have been linked to a reduction in odour emissions in these systems. However, these blooms are unstable and unreliable, forming and disappearing in an apparently unpredictable manner, and they have remained poorly understood. Controlled production of Arthrospira biomass in thi...

Atmospheric [CO2] has increased substantially in recent decades and will continue to do so, whereas the availability of phosphorus (P) is limited and unlikely to increase in the future. P is a non-renewable resource, and it is essential to every form of life. P is a key plant nutrient controlling the responsiveness of photosynthesis to [CO2]. Increases in [CO2] typically results in increased bi...

Nutrients limiting phytoplankton growth in the ocean are a critical control on productivity and can underpin predicted responses to climate change. The extensive western subtropical North Pacific is assumed be under strong nitrogen limitation, but this not well supported by experimental evidence. Here, we report results of 14 factorial nitrogen–phosphorus–iron addition experiments through Phili...