Seasonal patterns of root and shoot interactions in an alpine meadow on the Tibetan Plateau

Aims Numerous studies have showed that the balance between negative and positive plant–plant interactions shifted along environmental gradients. But little is known how the positive or negative plant–plant interactions varied with temporal fluctuating habitat conditions and plant ontogenetic phases.Methods In a 2-year experiment, the four perennial grasses (Kobresia humilis, Stipa aliena, Elymus nutans and Saussurea superba) were grown under four interaction treatments (no root or shoot interaction, only shoot interaction, only root interaction, root and shoot interaction). Intensity of above- and belowground interactions is proposed to vary with the fluctuation of seasonal climatic conditions and soil available nutrients. Here we report measurements of above- and belowground interactions during entire growing season. Correlation between plant interaction intensity and seasonal soil available N as well as habitat climate conditions was also performed.Important findings Our experiment found that root interactions had negative effect on plant growth for the four species during growing season. However, both negative and positive shoot interactions occurred among the four species. Despite there being shoot facilitative effect for E. nutans and S. superba, the full interaction was negative, suggested that root interaction take more important role on plant growth than that of shoot interaction. The interaction between root and shoot effect varied as a function of species identity and growth phases. The weak correlation of plant interaction intensity to habitat environmental factors suggested that plant ontogenetic characteristics may be primary factors causing temporal variation in plant interaction.