Abstract
Some plant species grow with closely genetically related individuals, and may benefit from an ability to recognize kin and show cooperative behavior towards neighbors. Kin recognition has been demonstrated in few plant species till now and thus constrained the understanding of significance of kin recognition. We investigated different growth and reproduction characteristics of kin recognition in two lifestyle species, the annual plant Lolium multiflorum Lam. and the perennial plant Elymus sibiricus Linn., which the main differences between are in their root system types and nutrition demand. We observed less root biomass distribution in kin groups than stranger groups for L. multiflorum Lam., but no indication in shoot characteristics at either the individual level or group level. For E. sibiricus, there were no significant differences in any measured characteristic index between kin and stranger groups at any level. Our results suggest that kin selection or plant responses to kin may depend on plant features and life-form; the most sensitive traits to competition are more likely to respond to kin selection. In addition, we considered that kin selection was tensely associated with degree of competition. It could be that the moderate competition level in our experiment could not stimulate kin cooperation activity of E. sibiricus c 2018 Friends Science Publishers
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