Indicator plant Totally Explained

Everything about Indicator Plant totally explained

An indicator plant is a usually weedy plant that grows in some specific environment, allowing an assessment of soil and other conditions in a place by simple observation of vegetation. Much useful knowledge can be obtained about our land by observation of the wild plants and cover crops that are growing, and their condition. These include indicating fertility levels and potential nutrient deficiencies, waterlogging or compaction problems, pH levels and so on. When assessing land by observation of indicator species however it's good practice to observe plant communities or consistent populations of indicator species rather than individual specimens which may not be typical. Perennial weeds which may have colonised an area for some time are also a more reliable form of indicator than annual weeds which may have only been there for that year and thus indicate a temporary condition.

Examples

Fertile soil supports plants such as nettles, chickweed, groundsel and fat hen.

Nitrogen-deficient conditions are indicated by the presence of nitrogen fixing legumes such as clovers or vetches.

Bluebells are very competitive, in other words whenever they occur, they occur frequently.

Bracken, plantains, sorrel, knapweeds, rhododendron and cranberries are amongst the plants that favour acidic conditions, while alkaline conditions tend to support populations of perennial sow thistle, bladder campion, henbane and mustard.

Waterlogged or poorly drained land is indicated by the presence of species such as mosses, creeping buttercup and horsetail, or bog loving plants including sedges, rushes, marsh marigold, marsh orchid or flag iris. See also: Organic gardening

Further Information

Get more info on 'Indicator Plant'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

<a href="http://indicator_plant.totallyexplained.com">Indicator plant Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.