Macro-elements within shoots of tall-tussocks (Chionochloa), and soil properties on Mt Kaiparoro, Wairarapa, New Zealand

Abstract

Abstract Soils and shoots from opposite ends of a topographically controlled drainage gradient were analysed. Soil bulk densities and nutrients, especially inorganic P fractions, decrease from Chionochloa flavescens to C. rubra sites down the gradient. Between-site differences in macro-element concentrations within the shoots are small, apart from higher Na concentrations in the sheaths of C. rubra, and higher K and Mg concentrations in the green blades of C. flavescens. Major changes in macro-element status down the gradient are related to shoot dry weight, which drops several-fold from C. flavescens to C. rubra. Macro-element concentrations in green blades of Mt Kaiparoro C. flavescens are similar to those of C. flavescens populations on the Tararua Range, whereas C. rubra populations have lower P, S, and Ca concentrations than does C. rubra on volcanic ash soils of the North Island.