Reproductive Biology of an Amphicarpic Annual, Polygonum thunbergii (Polygonaceae): Spatio-temporal Changes in Growth, Structure and Reproductive Components of a Population over an Environmental Gradient |
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Authors: | Shoichi Kawano Toshihiko Hara Akira Hiratsuka Kazuhito Matsuo Izumi Hirota |
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Institution: | Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606, and Institute of Genetic Ecology, Tohoku University, Sendai 980, Japan;Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo 158, Japan;Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Tohoku University, Sendai 980, Japan;Graduate School of Environmental Science, Hokkadio University, Sapporo 010, Japan;Department of Biology, College of Liberal Arts, Toyama University, Toyama 930, Japan |
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Abstract: | Abstract The process and mechanisms of spatio-temporal changes in growth, population structure, as well as various yield and reproductive components of a population of an amphicarpic annual, Polygonum thunbergii (Polygonaceae), with two reproductive systems (aerial chasmogamous flowers and subterranean cleistogamous flowers) along an environmental gradient (light, moisture and soil nitrogen levels) were investigated in the field. The results clearly demonstrate that growth and allocation patterns, population structure, and reproductive output of individuals changed sharply along the environmental gradient in response to seasonal and spatial changes in resource availability. Models predicted that light conditions bring about one-sided competition, whereas nutrient conditions in the soil engender two-sided competition. As expected, the degree of one-sided competition was prominent in the case of a planophile, Polygonum thunbergii. Allocation patterns, seed outputs, individual seed size as well as relative energy costs of chasmogamous and cleistogamous seed as affected by light and nutrient levels were also critically analyzed. The most noteworthy finding was that the size of chasmogamous seeds sharply decreased in response to a decrease in the light regime, while cleistogamous seed size remained constant along the gradient. However, relative cost of both chasmogamous and cleistogamous seeds sharply increased with decrease in the light level, reflecting different degrees of environmental stress, biotic interference, or both. |
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Keywords: | Polygonum thunbergii amphicarpic annual reproductive tactics reproductive biology cost of seed production environmental gradient |
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