Growth and reproductive strategies of Thalictrum petaloideum under different stocking rates

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1258.2014.00082

Abstract

Abstract:

Aims Grazing is one of the major measures for grassland management in Nei Mongol steppe. The growth and reproductive strategies of grassland plants are developed under their long-term co-evolution with ungulates in grassland ecosystems. This study was conducted to understand how Thalictrum petaloideum would change its growth and reproductive strategies with increasing stocking rate.
Methods By using a grazing experiment in a typical steppe ecosystem initiated by the Nei Mongol Grassland Ecosystem Research Station in 2006, we examined the responses of T. petaloideum to stocking rates at population, individual and organ levels during the 2012 and 2013 growing seasons.
Important findings With increasing stocking rate, the number of reproductive individuals decreased and the reproductive process ceased in T. petaloideum at the population level. The threshold for ceasing the reproductive process was at a stocking rate of 7.5 sheep per hm ². The plant height, plant biomass and the numbers of reproductive branches, flowers and seeds all decreased with increasing stocking rate at an individual level. Two shifts were detected for the reproductive allometric relationships with increases in stocking rate. With the increase of stocking rates, T. petaloideum reduced the number of flowers per reproductive branch decreased but the individual seed weight increased with increasing stocking rate at the organ level. A trade-off between the number of seed and the weight of seed was found, which might be an important mechanism in T. petaloideum responding to grazing disturbance.

Key words: grazing, perennial forbs, population, reproductive allocation, typical steppe

QIAO Li-Qing, TIAN Da-Shuan, WAN Hong-Wei, BAOYIN Taogetao, PAN Qing-Min. Growth and reproductive strategies of Thalictrum petaloideum under different stocking rates[J]. Chin J Plant Ecol, 2014, 38(8): 878-887.

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URL: https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/10.3724/SP.J.1258.2014.00082

https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/Y2014/V38/I8/878

Figures/Tables 8

Fig. 1 Density and aboveground biomass of Thalictrum petaloideum population under different stocking rates (mean ± SE, n = 5). Different lowercase letters indicate significant differences (p < 0.05).

Fig. 2 Plant height (A) and biomass per plant (B) of Thalictrum petaloideum under different stocking rates (mean ± SE, n = 50). Different lowercase letters indicate significant differences (p < 0.05).

Fig. 3 Numbers of reproductive branches (A) and flowers (B) of Thalictrum petaloideum at individual level under different stocking rates (mean ± SE, n = 50). Different lowercase letters indicate significant differences (p < 0.05).

Fig. 4 Number of seeds per plant (A) and seed yield per plant (B) of Thalictrum petaloideum under different stocking rates (mean ± SE, n = 50). Different lowercase letters indicate significant differences (p < 0.05).

Fig. 5 Number of flowers per branch (A) and grain mass (B) of Thalictrum petaloideum under different stocking rates (mean ± SE, n = 50). Different lowercase letters indicate significant differences (p < 0.05).

Fig. 6 Reproductive biomass allocation of Thalictrum petaloideum under different stocking rates (mean ± SE, n = 50). Different lowercase letters indicate significant differences (p < 0.05).

Table 1 Changes in reproductive allometric relationships between seeds and non-seed parts at an individual level in Thalictrum petaloideum under different stocking rates

	载畜率 Stocking rate (sheep·hm^-2)
	0 (对照 Control)	1.5	3.0	6.0
斜率 Slope	0.863^a	1.200^b	-	-
R²	0.569	0.107	-	-
p	< 0.000 1	0.022	0.688	0.108
截距 Intercept	0.075 93	-0.413 96	-	-
重复数 Number of replications	50	48	49	36

Fig. 7 Relationship between seed numbers per plant and grain mass of Thalictrum Petaloideum.

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