How past and present influence the foraging of clonal plants?
Clonal plants spreading horizontally and forming a network structure of ramets exhibit complex growth patterns to maximize resource uptake from the environment. They respond to spatial heterogeneity by changing their internode length or branching frequency. Ramets definitively root in the soil but stay interconnected for a varying period of time thus allowing an exchange of spatial and temporal information. We quantified the foraging response of clonal plants depending on the local soil quality sampled by the rooting ramet (i.e. the present information) and the resource variability sampled by the older ramets (i.e. the past information). We demonstrated that two related species, Potentilla reptans and P. anserina, responded similarly to the local quality of their environment by decreasing their internode length in response to nutrient-rich soil. Only P. reptans responded to resource variability by decreasing its internode length. In both species, the experience acquired by older ramets influenced the plastic response of new rooted ramets: the internode length between ramets depended not only on the soil quality locally sampled but also on the soil quality previously sampled by older ramets. We quantified the effect of the information perceived at different time and space on the foraging behavior of clonal plants by showing a non-linear response of the ramet rooting in the soil of a given quality. These data suggest that the decision to grow a stolon or to root a ramet at a given distance from the older ramet results from the integration of the past and present information about the richness and the variability of the environment.
UMR CNRS 6553 ECOBIO/UMS 3343 OSUR, University of Rennes I, Rennes, France. philippe.louapre@mail-univscience.com
Philipe
P
Louâpre
Anne-Kristel
AK
Bittebière
Bernard
B
Clément
Jean-Sébastien
JS
Pierre
Cendrine
C
Mony
D002999:Clone Cells; D008954:Models, Biological; D018547:Plant Stems / Q000254:growth & development*; D031987:Potentilla / Q000254:growth & development*; D012987:Soil
D012987:Soil