ABSTRACT
Plants compete for resources present below and above the soil surface. The objective of this work was to separate the individual effects of the competition for resources between soybean and corn as competitor plants. The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse, in 2014/2015. The treatments consisted of soybean cultivars (TEC 5718 and TEC 6029) in competition conditions with corn (no competition, competition for soil resources, competition for solar radiation and total competition). The variables evaluated were plant height at 7, 14, 21, 28, 35 and 42 days after emergence (DAE), stem/culm diameter, leaf area, shoot dry mass, root dry mass and the chlorophyll index, at 42 (DAE). The competition for soil resources between soybean and corn is pronounced, being that short cultivars with determinate growth habit, such as TEC 5718, invest more in root biomass, specific leaf area and leaf area ratio when in competition. The soybean cultivars do not suppress corn, but allow it to benefit when associated to its root system, increasing the shoot and root dry mass, leaf area and chlorophyll index.
Keywords:
Glycine max; Zea mays; water; competitiveness; solar radiation; competitor plant
Letter “a” represents the row of soybean plants, and letter “b”, corn as the competing plant. (Adapted from: Mcphee and Aarssen, 2001; Bianchi et al., 2006).
Means followed by different letters differ from each other according to the t test (p≤0.05). 1Means followed by different uppercase letters compare the conditions that differ from each other according to Tukey’s test (p≤0.05). 2Means followed by different lowercase letters compare cultivars that differ from each other according to the t test (p≤0.05).
