Annual production of Typha orientalis Presl. in inland Australia

Abstract

The annual aboveground production of T. orientalis was estimated from harvest data by three techniques. The first calculated production as the difference between maximum and minimum standing crop and gave a value of 1175 g m^-2. Demographic data showed this was an underestimate. The second estimate by Smalley's method of 3824 g m^-2 was considered an overestimate since no account was taken of stand variability. The third estimate, 2334 g m^-2, used data fitted by splined regression and was considered the most reliable since it accounted for stand variability, continuous growth, shoot mortality and the translocation of carbon substrate.

Annual aboveground production of inland T. orientalis was greater than most estimates from temperate climates, and whole plant production, 4379 g m^-2, greatly exceeded the suggested maximum of 3000 g m^-2 for freshwater emergent macrophytes.