Clonal integration in Fragaria chiloensis differs between populations: ramets from grassland are selfish |
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Authors: | Peter Alpert |
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Institution: | (1) Biology Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003-5810, USA e-mail: palpert@bio.umass.edu, Fax: +1-413-5453243, US |
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Abstract: | In plants, only species with clonal growth are able to directly transfer resources between otherwise independent units of
the same genetic individual. A simple conceptual model of plant performance as a function of internal resource supply and
environmental resource availability suggests that resource sharing between ramets within clones is likely to be disadvantageous
in uniform habitats and advantageous in patchy ones. It was therefore hypothesized that clones in populations from relatively
uniform habitats will have been selected for low rates of resource sharing between ramets compared to clones in populations
from patchier habitats. In coastal northern California, the clonal herb Fragaria chiloensis is common both in grasslands, where resources are relatively uniform, and on sand dunes, where resources are more patchy.
It was predicted that clones from a grassland population of Fragaria would have “selfish” ramets with low rates of resource sharing compared to clones from an adjacent dune population. Ramets
were subjected to contrasting light levels with and without connection between ramets. Patterns of biomass accumulation were
consistent with the prediction. This appears to be the first report of genetically based variation in patterns of resource
sharing in clonal plants. It supports the idea that these patterns are locally selected to increase plant performance in habitats
with different patterns of resource availability.
Received: 19 August 1998 / Accepted: 4 March 1999 |
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Keywords: | Clonal plant Fragaria chiloensis Physiological integration Resource patchiness Genetic differentiation |
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