Chin J Plan Ecolo ›› 2000, Vol. 24 ›› Issue (1): 46-51.

• Research Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Clonal Growth of Ligularia virgaurea: Morphological Responses to Nutritional Variation

SHAN Bao-Qing, DU Guo-Zhen and LIU Zhen-Heng   

  • Published:2000-01-10
  • Contact: SHAN Bao-Qing

Abstract:

Clonal growth of the perennial plant Ligularia virgaurea was studied in respect to varying nitrogen availability and habitat. The results showed: 1) Spacer length was affected by resource levels and community characteristics. Increased nitrogen 1ed to shortened spacer length, while spacer length was also shortened in the artificial community relative to the natural community (alpine meadow). This shows strong morphological plasticity in spacer of L.virgaurea in response to varying resource levels and habitat quality; 2) Branching intensity increased with resource levels, but there was no obvious difference between the natural and artificial communities. The formation and growth of ramets is affected by both the environmental resource condition and the growth condition of genets. 3) Branching angle of L. virgaurea was not affected by resource levels and habitat: its morphological plasticity was very low. 4) Under conditions of resource depletion or community crowding resource allocation to roots was high, further showing that resource allocation patterns are also affected by both environmental resource conditions and community structure.

Key words: Ligularia virgaurea, Clonal growth, Morphological plasticity foraging, Nutrition