Clonal integration affects growth, photosynthetic efficiency and biomass allocation, but not the competitive ability, of the alien invasive Alternanthera philoxeroides under severe stress |
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Authors: | Wang Ning Yu Fei-Hai Li Ping-Xing He Wei-Ming Liu Feng-Hong Liu Ji-Ming Dong Ming |
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Affiliation: | 1 State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China 2 Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China 3 College of Forestry, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China |
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Abstract: | Background and Aims: Many notorious alien invasive plants are clonal, but littleis known about some roles and aspects of clonal integration.Here, the hypothesis is tested that clonal integration affectsgrowth, photosynthetic efficiency, biomass allocation and competitiveability of the exotic invasive weed Alternanthera philoxeroides(Amaranthaceae). Methods: The apical parts of Alternanthera were grown either with orwithout the lawn grass Schedonorus phoenix (tall fescue) andtheir stolon connections to the basal parts grown without competitorswere either severed or left intact. Key Results: Competition greatly reduced the maximum quantum yield of photosystemII (Fv/Fm) and growth (biomass, number of ramets and leaves,total stolon length and total leaf area) of the apical Alternanthera,but not the biomass of S. phoenix. Stolon connections significantlyincreased Fv/Fm and growth of Alternanthera. However, such effectson growth were smaller with than without competition and stolonconnections did not alter the relative neighbour effect of Alternanthera.Stolon connections increased Alternanthera's biomass allocationto roots without competition, but decreased it with competition. Conclusions: Clonal integration contributed little to Alternanthera's competitiveability, but was very important for Alternanthera to exploreopen space. The results suggest that the invasiveness of Alternantheramay be closely related to clonal integration. |
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Keywords: | Alien species alligator weed Alternanthera philoxeroides chlorophyll fluorescence clonal invasive plants competition physiological integration Schedonorus phoenix |
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