The plastic response of clonal plant to different patch quality is not always the same and the degree is different too. So the result of this kind of foraging behaviour is different. In order to make clear whether the ramtes stay in favourable patches and get the quantitative relationship between the ramets distribution among patches and the available resource amount in heterogeneous environment, we develop a theoretical work under ideal free distribution (IFD) theory framework by neglecting some morphological plasticity of the spacer in this article. The results of our general model show that the ramet distribution should obey input matching rule at equilibrium. That means the ratio of ramet number in different patches should be equal to the ratio of available resource amount in these patches. We also use the simulation to predict the distribution pattern under history mattering. The results show that the initial ramets number has significant influence on the final distribution: over matching and under matching both can occur. More initial ramets in favourable patch result in over matching and more initial ramets in unfavourable patch result in under matching. The degree of the deviation from input matching rule is great when the difference of patches is small. These results prove that ideal free distribution theory works the same with animals. The ramets can stay in favourable patches sometimes in spite of the plasticity of the spacer, and the distribution depends on both patch quality and the history factors. But these results are true only when the functional response is type II.
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Li, L., Wang, G. The ideal free distribution of clonal plant's ramets among patches in a heterogeneous environment. Bull. Math. Biol. 68, 1837–1850 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11538-005-9011-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11538-005-9011-6