Abstract
The availabilities of light and soil water resources usually spatially co-vary in natural habitats, and the spatial pattern of such co-variation may affect the benefits of physiological integration between connected ramets of clonal plants. In a greenhouse experiment, we grew connected or disconnected ramet pairs [consisting of a proximal (relatively old) and a distal (relative young) ramet] of a rhizomatous herb Iris japonica in four heterogeneous environments differing in patch arrangement (reciprocal vs. parallel patchiness of light and soil water) and patch contrast (high vs. low contrast of light and water). Biomass of the proximal part, distal part and clonal fragment of I. japonica were all significantly greater in the intact than in the severed treatment, in the parallel than in the reciprocal patchiness treatment and in the high than in the low contrast treatment, but the effect of severing the connection between ramet pairs did not depend on patch arrangement or contrast. Severing the connection decreased number of ramets of the distal part and the clonal fragment in the parallel patchiness arrangement, but not in the reciprocal patchiness arrangement. Therefore, the spatial arrangement of resource patches can alter the effects of clonal integration on asexual reproduction in I. japonica.
Highlights
The availabilities of light and soil water resources usually spatially co-vary in natural habitats, and the spatial pattern of such co-variation may affect the benefits of physiological integration between connected ramets of clonal plants
We addressed the following questions: (1) Does rhizome connection improve the growth of I. japonica in terms of biomass and ramet production under heterogeneous environments of both light and soil water? 2) Does spatial patch arrangement alter the impact of clonal integration on the growth of I. japonica? (3) Does spatial patch contrast alter the benefit of clonal integration on the growth of I. japonica? (4) Is there an interaction effect of patch arrangement and patch contrast on the benefit of clonal integration?
Effects of rhizome severing on biomass of the clonal fragment did not depend significantly on patch arrangement or patch contrast (Table 1A, P > 0.05 for A ×S and C ×S)
Summary
The availabilities of light and soil water resources usually spatially co-vary in natural habitats, and the spatial pattern of such co-variation may affect the benefits of physiological integration between connected ramets of clonal plants. In some habitats such as shrublands, high light intensity under sparse vegetation is associated with low soil water availability and low light intensity under dense vegetation is accompanied with high soil water availability[12,13,14,15] In such environments with reciprocal patchiness of light and soil water, neither patch alone is ideal for plant growth[16,17]. Little is known about the interaction effect between patch contrast and patch arrangement on benefits of clonal integration
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