Abstract
Abstract Plastic responses of 12 morphological and life history traits to different nutrient and light intensity gradients were studied in five populations of Oxalis corniculata, a clonal perennial with creeping horizontal runners. This species comprises two floral morphs, homostyled and long‐styled, with different breeding systems. In controlled nutrient and light intensity experiments, 98 of 120 traits exhibited significant plastic responses in one‐way ANOVA; significant population × treatment interaction terms in two‐way ANOVA were found for 16 of 24 traits. Marked growth responses were noted in the plants grown along different environmental gradients. Reduced light availability decreased reproductive allocation and enhanced vertical and horizontal stems. To investigate the plastic responses of homostyled and long‐styled populations in further detail, patterns and amounts of plastic responses across 12 traits were also quantified. Significantly different overall amounts of plastic responses among the populations were found along the nutrient gradient. In addition, we also evaluated the foraging ability of these populations in terms of spacer length and branching intensity. There were three different types of foraging behaviors along the light intensity gradient. Homostyled populations generally showed small amounts of plastic response and foraging ability; in contrast, long‐styled populations tended to exhibit larger amounts of plastic response and greater foraging ability.
Published Version
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