Plant Clonal Integration Mediates the Horizontal Redistribution of Soil Resources, Benefiting Neighboring Plants
作 者:Ye XH, Zhang YL, Liu ZL, Gao SQ, Song YB, Liu FH, Dong M* |
影响因子:3.948 |
刊物名称:Frontiers in Plant Science |
出版年份:2016 |
卷:7 期: 页码:77 |
Resources such as water taken up by plants can be released into soils through hydraulic redistribution and can also be translocated by clonal integrationwithin 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 [N-15] 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 therecipient microsites. Most notably, portions of the translocated water and nitrogen were released into the recipient microsite and were used by the neighboringA. ordosica, which increased growth of the neighboring A. ordosica significantly. Therefore, our hypotheses were supported, and plant clonal integrationmediated the horizontal hydraulic redistribution of resources, thus benefiting neighboring plants. Such a plant clonal integration-mediated resourceredistribution in horizontal space may have substantial effects on the interspecific relations and composition of the community and consequently on ecosystem processes.