Rhizome Plasticity and Clonal Foraging of Calamagrostis Canadensis in Response to Habitat Heterogeneity

Abstract

1) A glasshouse experiment was conducted in which individuals of the rhizomatous grass Calamagrostis canadensis were grown in soil-filled wooden boxes. Directly adjacent to each plant on one side was a control area (same conditions as those in which the plant was growing), while immediately adjacent on the other side was an area with one of the experimental conditions («shade», «cool soil», «cool soil + shade», or «cool soil + intraspecific competition»). Rhizomes of each plant were allowed the opportunity to grow simultaneously into both the control and the treated side