Abstract The relative competitive abilities of Elymus nutans, Festuca sinensis and Festuca ovina were studied in the east Qinghai‐Tibetan plateau. Emergence percentage, numbers of plants established, establishment rate and the relative competitive intensity (RCI) based on harvested shoot biomass were measured for the three species as monocultures and in all possible combinations of mixtures in four randomised complete blocks. In the seedling stage, ANOVA showed that emergence percentage was density independent and was greatest for E. nutans, somewhat lower for F. sinensis, and least for F. ovina. The multiple comparisons (Tukey HSD) showed that the emergence percentage was significantly different among the three species. In the adult stage, the result of correlation analysis showed that the establishment rate of a species was density dependent. The multiple comparisons show that the established numbers and establishment rate were significantly different am ong the three species. At the same time, the comp...
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