Plant functional types: competitors. Johnson grass (Sorghum halepense)

Competitor species are adapted to stable, resource rich habitats (plenty of light, nutrients and water) by getting large fast, allowing them to pre-empt resources and exclude other plants. Large-leaved plants exhibit intermediate resource economics (i.e. they are neither extremely acquisitive nor extremely conservative); part of a three-way trade-off fundamental to plant functioning and adaptation. The competitor strategy is not effective where there is regular disturbance (lethal biomass removal) or stress (limitations to metabolism restraining growth) and acquisitive vs. conservative economics, respectively, confer fitness. This is where Grime's wider CSR scheme helps us to understand plant adaptation.

𝗙𝘂𝗻 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁: the latin specific name ‘𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦’ was chosen to reflect the geographic origin of the species (the specimen Linneaus examined came from Allepo in Syria). 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝘂𝗻 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁: the English name Johnson grass acknowledges the role of Colonel William Johnson in introducing this species to Alabama in 1840 as a forage grass. Nowadays you can find it all over the American continents too. Yay!

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱.

𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲:

𝗖𝗦𝗥 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺: