Table 3 Root P content (mg/g dry mass) and physiological plasticity (Pplast) after 90 days of growth in spatially heterogeneous and homogeneous P supply (mean ± SE). For each level of patch strength, means followed by different lower and upper case letter (s) across columns are statistically different

0 + 0/30

Large

0.79 ± 0.04b

0.67 ± 0.17a

1.26 ± 0.23A

Medium

0.41 ± 0.01a

0.37 ± 0.08a

1.16 ± 0.18A

Small

0.38 ± 0.03a

0.27 ± 0.03a

1.46 ± 0.22A

Homogeneous

0.34 ± 0.04a

0.34 ± 0.05a

1.00 ± 0.00A

0 + 7.5/30

Large

0.47 ± 0.02a

0.47 ± 0.03a

0.98 ± 0.09A

Medium

0.43 ± 0.08a

0.37 ± 0.03a

1.19 ± 0.17A

Small

0.43 ± 0.07a

0.40 ± 0.03a

1.07 ± 0.11A

Homogeneous

0.46 ± 0.02a

0.46 ± 0.02a

1.00 ± 0.00A

7.5 + 0/30

Large

0.87 ± 0.06a

0.84 ± 0.06ab

1.05 ± 0.14A

Medium

0.94 ± 0.01a

1.07 ± 0.01c

0.87 ± 0.05A

Small

1.02 ± 0.08a

0.98 ± 0.08bc

1.05 ± 0.13A

Homogeneous

0.66 ± 0.01a

0.66 ± 0.01a

1.00 ± 0.00A