Phosphorus-utilisation efficiency and leaf-morphology traits of Rytidosperma species (wallaby grasses) that differ in their growth response to phosphorus fertilisation

Rytidosperma species are perennial grasses found in cool temperate grasslands of Australia. The species differ in their intrinsic growth rates, response to phosphorus (P) fertiliser application and critical external P requirements (P required for 90% maximum growth). The present study examined whether internal P-utilisation efficiency (PUE) by Rytidosperma species influenced these differences. The PUE of nine Rytidosperma species and two grasses of Mediterranean origin, Bromus hordeaceus L. and Lolium perenne L., was assessed using alternative measures of shoot P concentration or its reciprocal. No measure of PUE was correlated with the critical external P requirements of the species. One measure of PUE, shoot dry matter per unit P, when assessed at a common shoot P content was correlated with potential growth rate (P < 0.001; r = 0.93; 4 mg shoot P). However, other measures of PUE were not correlated with potential growth rates. All of the fast-growing species (B. hordeaceus, L. perenne, Rytidosperma duttonianum (Cashmore) Connor & Edgar and Rytidosperma richardsonii (Cashmore) Connor & Edgar) exhibited high PUE, whereas PUE varied substantially among the slower-growing species. The fast-growing Rytidosperma species differed in the contribution that area-based P concentration of leaves and specific leaf area (SLA) made to the achievement of high PUE, and they retained shoot-morphology traits normally associated with slow-growing species such as smaller leaf area, smaller SLA and higher leaf dry matter content.