Competition between herbage plants

Abstract

Starting from work with annuals a model of competition between herbage plants is discussed. It is shown that tbei'r mutual interference can only be described adequately if they are grown in mixture and also in monoculture. 1. Introduetion To find a basis for the mutual interference in pastures, DE WIT and ENN~ {1958) studied competition experiments between annual species, Their theory was worked out in considerable detail by DE WIT (1960, 1961) up to the level considered suitable in the interpretation of competition experiments between perennial grassland species. In due course, however, difficulties were encountered (ENNIK, 1960; vAN DEN BERGH and DE WIT, 1960; VAN DEN BEROH and ELBERSB, 1962) related to the problem of finding a stage in herbage plants reoccurring at intervalst like the seeds of annual species. It is shown here how and to what extent this problem can be overcome. 2. The relative reproductive rate