Root responses to legume plants integrate information on nitrogen availability and neighbour identity |
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| Institution: | 1. Institute of Plant Sciences, Faculty of Biology and Preclinical Medicine, University of Regensburg, D-93040 Regensburg, Germany;2. Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, Faculty of Biology, University of Münster, D-48149 Münster, Germany;1. UMR 1349 Institute of Genetics, Environment and Plant Protection (IGEPP), Agrocampus Ouest, 2 Rue André le Nôtre, 49045 Angers, France;2. UMR 1349 Institute of Genetics, Environment and Plant Protection (IGEPP), Agrocampus Ouest, 65 Rue de Saint-Brieuc, 35042 Rennes, France;3. University of Avignon, Mediterranean Institute of Biodiversity and Ecology (IMBE, Aix-Marseille University, CNRS, IRD, University of Avignon), IUT Agroparc, BP 61207, 84911 Avignon, France;1. Division of Conservation Biology, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Balzerstrasse 6, 3012 Bern, Switzerland;2. Institute of Plant Sciences and Botanical Garden, University of Bern, Altenbergrain 21, 3013 Bern, Switzerland;3. Swiss Ornithological Institute, Valais Field Station, Rue du Rhône 11, 1950 Sion, Switzerland;1. Institute of Regional Ecology, CONICET-National University of Tucumán, CC34, 4107 Yerba Buena, Tucumán, Argentina;2. University of Puerto Rico, Department of Environmental Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Río Piedras Campus, San Juan, PR 00931, USA;1. Linze Inland River Basin Research Station, Key Laboratory of Ecohydrology of Inland River Basin, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, China;2. Pratacultural College, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, 730000, China |
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| Abstract: | Rhizobial symbiosis is known to increase the nitrogen availability in the rhizosphere of legumes. Therefore, it has been hypothesized that other plants’ roots should forage towards legume neighbours, but avoid non-legume neighbours. Yet, root distribution responding to legume plants as opposed to non-legumes has not yet been rigorously tested and might well be subject to integration of multiple environmental cues.In this study, wedevised an outdoor mesocosm experiment to examine root distributions of the two plant species Pilosella officinarum and Arenaria serpyllifolia in a two-factorial design. While one factor was ‘neighbour identity’, where plants were exposed to different legume or non-legume neighbours, the other factor was ‘nitrogen supply’. In the latter the nutrient-poor soil was supplemented with either nitrogen-free or with nitrogen-containing fertilizer.Unexpectedly, of all treatments that included a legume neighbour (eight different species or factor combinations), we found merely one case of root aggregation towards a legume neighbour (P. officinarum towards Medicago minima under nitrogen-fertilized conditions). In this very treatment, also P. officinarum root–shoot allocation was strongly increased, indicating that neighbour recognition is coupled with a contesting strategy.Considering the various response modes of the tested species towards the different legume and non-legume neighbours, we can conclude that roots integrate information on neighbour identity and resource availability in a complex manner. Especially the integration of neighbour identity in root decisions must be a vital aptitude for plants to cope with their complex biotic and abiotic environment in the field. |
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| Keywords: | Facilitation Information integration Intercropping Legume Mesocosm experiment Neighbour recognition Plant–plant interactions Root aggregation Root distribution Root foraging |
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