title: Plant Clonal Integration Mediates the Horizontal Redistribution of Soil Resources, Benefiting Neighboring Plants.
abstract: Resources such as water taken up by plants can be released into soils through hydraulic redistribution and can also be translocated by clonal integration within a plant clonal network. We hypothesized that the resources from one (donor) microsite could be translocated within a clonal network, released into different (recipient) microsites and subsequently used by neighbor plants in the recipient microsite. To test these hypotheses, we conducted two experiments in which connected and disconnected ramet pairs of Potentilla anserina were grown under both homogeneous and heterogeneous water regimes, with seedlings of Artemisia ordosica as neighbors. The isotopes [(15)N] and deuterium were used to trace the translocation of nitrogen and water, respectively, within the clonal network. The water and nitrogen taken up by P. anserina ramets in the donor microsite were translocated into the connected ramets in the recipient microsites. Most notably, portions of the translocated water and nitrogen were released into the recipient microsite and were used by the neighboring A. ordosica, which increased growth of the neighboring A. ordosica significantly. Therefore, our hypotheses were supported, and plant clonal integration mediated the horizontal hydraulic redistribution of resources, thus benefiting neighboring plants. Such a plant clonal integration-mediated resource redistribution in horizontal space may have substantial effects on the interspecific relations and composition of the community and consequently on ecosystem processes.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xue-Hua
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing, China; University of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing, China.
authors.forename: Ya-Lin
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Zhi-Lan
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Shu-Qin
authors.initials: SQ
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing, China; Key Laboratory of Hangzhou City for Ecosystem Protection and Restoration, Hangzhou Normal UniversityHangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Yao-Bin
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing, China; National Science Library, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing, China.
authors.forename: Feng-Hong
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing, China; Key Laboratory of Hangzhou City for Ecosystem Protection and Restoration, Hangzhou Normal UniversityHangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dong
keywords: Potentilla anserina; [15N]; clonal integration; deuterium; environmental heterogeneity; hydraulic redistribution; stable isotope