Summary
During five consecutive growing seasons (winters) ca. 110 plants of the desert geophyte Bellevalia desertorum were marked individually in a 25 m2 plot on a south-facing slope in the central Negev Desert of Israel. The number of rosette leaves of each plant was recorded, as well as whether it flowered and produced seeds. Multiple regression analysis of the data on the B. desertorum individuals showed that the reproductive state of a plant was determined by 1) its previous size and 2) the current conditions (rainfall), but not by previous conditions, nor by previous reproductive activity. Plant surveys supported these findings. These demographic results were consistent with the current understanding of the reproductive resource allocation pattern of B. desertorum. Flowering was most affected by rainfall until January of the same season, the number of leaves by rainfall until March and seed set was by the total annual amount. Surveys in populations ofB. eigii, a species of more mesic habitats in the Negev Desert suggested that in this species there is a negative effect of previous reproduction in combination with the previous and current conditions, which is also expected from its biomass partitioning pattern.
The significance of demographic studies of individual plants in natural populations for the interpretation of experimentally determined resource partitioning patterns was discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Barkham JP (1980) Population dynamics of the Wild Daffodil (Narcissus pseudonarcissus).J Ecol 68:607–664
Baskin JM, Baskin CC (1979) Studies on the autecology and population biology of the weedy monocarpic perennial, Pastinaca sativa. J Ecol 67:601–610
Boeken B (1986) Utilization of Reserves in some Desert Geophytes. Ph.D. Thesis, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel
Boeken B (1989) Life Histories of Desert Geophytes — The Relation between Biomass Partitioning and Water Availability. Oecologia
Dafni A, Cohen D, Noy-Meir I (1981) Life-cycle variation in geophytes. Ann Mo Bot Gdns 68:652–660
Edwards AL (1979) Multiple Regression and the Analysis of Variance and Covariance. Freeman, San Francisco
Evenari M, Shanan L, Tadmor N (1982) The Negev: the challenge of a desert. Harvard University Press, Cambridge
Feinbrun N (1940) A monographic study on the Genus Bellevalia Lapeyr. III. Caryology, taxonomy, geography. Palestine J Bot 1:336–408
Feinbrun-Dothan N (1986) Flora Palestina, Vol IV. Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities Jerusalem
Fortanier EJ (1973) Reviewing the length of the generation period and its shortening, particularly in tulips. Scientia Horticultura 5:107–116
Gutterman Y (1982) Observations on the feeding habit of the Indian crested porcupine (Hystrix indica) and the distribution of some hemi-cryptophytes and geophytes in the Negev Desert Highlands. J Ar Env 5:261–268
Harper JL (1977) Population Biology of Plants. Academic Press, London
Silvertown JW (1982) Introduction to plant population ecology. Longman, London
Sokal RR, Rohlf FJ (1981) Biometry, Second Edition. Freeman, San Francisco
Werner PA (1975) Predictions of fate from rosette size in teasel (Dipsacus fullonum). Oecologia (Berlin) 20:197–201
White J, Harper JL (1970) Correlated changes in plant size and number in plant populations. J Ecol 58:467–485
Williams GC (1966) Adaptation and Natural Selection. Princeton University Press, Princeton
Willson MF (1983) Reproductive ecology of plants. J Wiley & Sons, New York
Willson MF, Burly N (1983) Mate choice in plants. Princeton Univ Press, Princeton
Zar JH (1974) Biostatistical Analysis. Prentice-Hall, New Jersey
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Boeken, B. Life histories of desert geophytes —the demographic consequences of reproductive biomass partitioning patterns. Oecologia 80, 278–283 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00380164
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00380164