Network size‐dependent impact on vegetative growth and sexual reproduction in clonal patches of white clover Trifolium repens

• Published in: Nordic journal of botany Vol. 36; no. 11
• Main Authors: Dominiak, Martyna, Lewandowski, Arkadiusz, Gąbka, Maciej, Lembicz, Marlena
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.11.2018; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: clonal plant; Clover; function of ramets; Networks; Nutrient availability; Nutrients; Plant growth; Plants (botany); Reproduction; Reproduction (biology); Resource allocation; Sexual reproduction; Trifolium repens; Vegetative reproduction
• ISSN: 0107-055X; 1756-1051
• DOI: 10.1111/njb.01928

In natural habitats, clonal plants form interconnected ramet networks of varied sizes. In large and small networks, ramets may be presumed to apply distinct strategies of investing in vegetative growth and sexual reproduction. This very hypothesis was tested in the course of our experiment in the field. The study encompassed 16 patches of white clover Trifolium repens, which were divided into two groups: small and large. Separate zones, i.e. central, middle and marginal, were isolated within each clonal patch. In small networks, the share of sexually reproducing ramets is prevalent compared with vegetative growth, while vegetative growth is the predominant mode of proliferation in large networks. The highest quantity of ramets which reproduced sexually was observed in the outlying regions of large networks. The findings were elucidated with respect to habitat resources used by ramets in networks, and a model of optimal allocation of resources to sexual and vegetative reproduction in perennial plants. We propose that the factor which significantly promoted increased sexual reproduction of ramets in the small patches was more extensive access to water and nutrients, whose availability was in turn limited in the large patches.