Phosphorus Cycle in Three Herb Plant Populations in the Basin of Mt. Geumoh

금오산 분지의 삼종 초본식물개체군의 인의 순경

The seasonal pattern and the annual magnitude of the internal (or biochemical) and plant-soil cycles of phophorus in adjacent three different herb plant populations-Helianthus tuberosus L., Artemisia princeps Pampan and Phalaris anundinacea L.-in an old field of the basin in the Mt. Geumoh were investigated. A lot of the phosphorus demand for the three populations was supplied by the withdrawal from below-ground organ in early growing period, by the absorption from soil in mid-growing period and by the withdrawal from stem in later growing period. But in the A. princeps and P. arundianacea populations, a great deal of phosphorus seemed to be absorbed prior to the first withdrawal. The annual amount of the phosphorus flowing throughthe internal cycle was about 59% of the total hosphorus flow on theorgan level in the H. tuberosus population, 41% in the A. princeps population and 32% in the P. arundinacea population, indicating that the tuber plant had the most developed internal cycle system. The annual amount of phosphorus which took part in the plant-soil cycle in the stand of the three populations was in the range of 4.49-5.65 gPm-2, corresponding to only 3-8% of the extractable phosphorus contained in the soil of 0-20 cm depth. The fact that the H. tuberosus population is higher in the extent fo internal cycle but smaller in the magnitude of plant-soil cycle and lower in the turnover rate of phsophorus than the other two populations suggests that the growth of H. tuberosus population may be less dependent on soil phosphorus availability than those of the other two populations.