The evergreen characteristic of Lobelia dortmanna L. involves biomass and nutrient conservation. Although 60% of the maximum, midsummer biomass overwinters, little or no new tissue is produced between October and early May. Annual net production, estimated from the rate of leaf turnover, is less than the maximum biomass (P/B = 0.69 per year). Nitrogen and P concentrations are lowest in mid-August, when the amount of each analyzed element per square metre is near its maximum (N, P, Ca, Mg, Na, K). Autumnal uptake of N may contribute 25% of the next season's growth requirements, but P uptake is largely offset by losses during the winter. Fruiting and sterile plants have similar contents of N, P, and K in late July, but the fruiting plants are richer in Ca, Mg, Na, Fe, Mn, and Zn. At the maximum depth limit of the population in Mirror Lake, New Hampshire (2.3 m), flowering is absent and seedlings are sparse, suggesting reproductive failure as a controlling factor at the margin of the population.
Climatic data for Mirror Lake, West Thornton, New Hampshire, 1981-82
