THE CHLOROPHYLL CONTENT OF SOME NATIVE AND MANAGED PLANT COMMUNITIES IN CENTRAL MINNESOTA

Abstract

Concentration of chlorophyll per unit area of land surface was measured for six forests and 13 native and managed herbaceous stands in central Minnesota. Chlorophyll samples were extracted in acetone and in ethyl ether, and spectro-photometric analysis made of chlorophyll a and b content. Wet and ovendry weights of the aboveground crop were determined.A highly significant correlation was found between the dry weight of the aboveground crop of the annual herbaceous stands and the chlorophyll content of these stands. All stable natural herbaceous stands had an approximately similar ratio of chlorophyll to the dry weight of aboveground parts.Chlorophyll content in grams per square meter of land surface along an upland gradient from field crop through native communities of increasing age or successional development or both was Zea mays (2.7), Soja max (0.9), younger to older successional stages of old field (0.3 to 0.6), native prairie (0.7), xeric (more open) savanna (0.6), mesic (less open) savanna (1.0), conifer–hardwood forest (3.1). Chlorophyll content for a pond hydrosere from the Nymphaea odorata margin through Carex lasiocarpa mat to Chamaedaphne calyculata shrub and Larix laricina forest increased from 0.3 to 1.4 g/m². Values for a younger and older Populus tremuloides lowland grove were 1.7 and 5.9 and for a Typha marsh were 4.6 g/m².These data showed a tendency for later successional stages to exceed earlier stages, for some lowland stands to exceed upland stands, for forest to exceed herbaceous communities on a given moisture level, and for field crops to exceed prairie and old field. The upland old field to forest sequence and the lowland Nymphaea to Larix sequence had similar chlorophyll contents for a given stage of successional development. There was a highly significant positive correlation between chlorophyll content and height of the arboreal stands, and a significant positive correlation between chlorophyll content and herbaceous stand height.A significant difference in chlorophyll content was found between all stands with three or more sample plots, except those with closely correspondent mean values. The maximum difference between stands was twentyfold, which does not support previous studies which have suggested a similarity of chlorophyll content in diverse communities.Chlorophyll concentrations and wet and dry weights per various plant parts are presented for the seven tree samples, and the presence of chlorophyll in other than leaf parts emphasized.