Ramet demography and ecological attributes of the perennial river corridor plant Cnidium dubium (Schkuhr) Thell. (Apiaceae)

Abstract

Cnidium dubium is a highly endangered, perennial river corridor plant in Central Europe. Here we summarise a 4-year field study of its ramet demography, growing in two different flood meadows in the Lower Havel River Valley in northeastern Germany, emphasising the influence of site-specific abiotic factors, mowing and the summer flood of 2002. We recorded 1658 ramets at densities between 2 and 180 ramets m −2, which varied over area and time, indicating a high small-scale turnover of this species within grasslands. The half-life of the different ramet cohorts was estimated to range from 0.1 to 1.3 years, but single ramets of more than 4 years old were also found. Ramets are monocarpic: they propagate only once in their life. The highest probability of a vegetative ramet becoming a flowering stalk was 11.6%. Ramet density, cumulative number of newly produced ramets per year, leaf length, leaf age, reproductive growth and recovery from the summer flood of 2002 varied, depending on site. C. dubium had a higher performance at sites in intermediate zones of the overall flooding gradient compared with higher zones. Flooding stress is the controlling factor for the lower limit of its performance, while there was no evidence for an upper limit controlled by summer drought. Mowing slightly increased the cumulative number of leaves per ramet, but it decreased the size of new leaves and also the summer above-ground biomass per ramet. As a consequence, the most marked effect was that fewer ramets entered the generative life stage, but the plants were able to keep their overall reproductive performance on a level independent of mowing. Knowledge of basic growth patterns of C. dubium in natural populations could help to explain the species rareness, and may also suggest appropriate strategies to manage its survival.