Seasonal growth of field layer plants in two stands of Mallee vegetation

Abstract

Changes in the aerial biomass of annual and perennial plants in the field layers of two stands in the mallee vegetation were followed from spring 1964 until spring 1966, and it is shown that these plants reach their maximum aerial biomass in the late spring and early summer respectively at, or before, the time when the shrubs and mallee eucalypts begin their new season's shoot growth. Studies of some Australian grasses and shrubs reveal that their shoot growth rhythms are "out of phase with the present climate", but the results reported here suggest that the various plants in mallee vegetation may conform to more than one growth rhythm.