Effects of light on the growth and clonal reproduction of Ligularia virgaurea.
Ligularia virgaurea is a perennial herb that is widely distributed in the alpine meadow on the eastern Qinghai-Tibet plateau. We investigated the patterns of growth and reproduction of L. virgaurea under two contrasting levels of light conditions for two continuous growing seasons. Our results showed that the light effects on the maximum relative growth rate, the shoot weight ratio and the root weight ratio differed between the two growing seasons. L. virgaurea reproduced initially through rhizome in the second growing season, rather than sexual reproduction. The proportion of genets with clonal reproduction decreased under shaded conditions. A minimum genet size should be attained for clonal reproduction to begin under the shaded conditions. There was a positive linear relationship between clonal reproduction and genet size. Light level affected the allocation of total biomass to clonal structures, with less allocation under the full natural irradiance than under the shaded conditions. There seemed to be a trade-off between vegetative growth and clonal reproduction under the full natural irradiance, in terms of smaller relative growth rates of genets with clonal reproduction than those without clonal reproduction. L. virgaurea emphasized clonal reproduction under the full natural irradiance, while the plant emphasized vegetative growth under the shaded conditions.
Wang
Man-Tang
MT
Key Laboratory of Arid and Grassland Agroecology under the Ministry of Education, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China.
Zhao
Zhi-Gang
ZG
Du
Guo-Zhen
GZ
He
Yan-Long
YL
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D019659:Asteraceae / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D018533:Biomass; D002999:Clone Cells; D008027:Light; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000254:growth & development / Q000528:radiation effects; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000254:growth & development / Q000528:radiation effects; D018520:Plant Shoots / Q000254:growth & development / Q000528:radiation effects; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012100:Reproduction, Asexual / Q000528:radiation effects*; D012621:Seasons