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Re: Re: Re: Barley Sraw Revisited
> the straw began to break down 2weeks after. As the straw decomposed,
> so there was a lifting of the algae. It is now day 29 of that tank
> and it is almost "photo-clear" of algae. The exception is that
With such a strong effect on algae, is there any possiblity that it would
inhibit growth of higher plants as well? <<
I found a detailed scientific study on the use of Barley and it says the
following;
1 Effects on other aquatic plants. No direct effect of straw on aquatic
vascular plants has been found in either laboratory or field experiments.
However, in several trials where straw has successfully controlled algae,
there has been a noticeable increase in the growth of submerged vascular
plants. It is likely that this is a result of the loss of competition from
the algae which has allowed the vascular plants to recolonise water in which
previously they were unable to compete with the algae. In some instances,
the recovery of the vascular plants has been so marked that they, in turn,
caused problems to water users and also required some form of management.
However, they are generally easier to control and less troublesome than the
algae and so are more acceptable in most waters. In some instances the
recovery of the vascular plants has been so strong that they replaced the
algal growth as the dominant plant form so that subsequent treatment with
straw was no longer needed.
Dr Jonathan Newman
Senior Research Scientist
IACR Centre for Aquatic Plant Management
Broadmoor Lane, Sonning,
Reading, Berkshire, RG4 0TH, UK
IACR_CAPM at compuserve_com
You can find the full article at http://www.execpc.com/~aqsys/barley.html
and soon on my WEB site.
Robert Paul H
http://www.aquabotanic.com