Abstract
How perennial grass populations are maintained in different climates is poorly understood at the level of individual shoots (ramets). During the years 1982–1987 and 1991–1993, measurements of shoot dynamics and growth in populations of a clonal grass, Miscanthus sinensis, were made at two sites in Japan that differed by approximately 5 °C in mean temperature. While annual shoot births were very stable during the period 1982–1987 at both sites, the number of flowering shoots fluctuated cyclically every year. The clonal propagation of shoots was size-independent, whereas the reproduction (flowering) of shoots was size-dependent and negatively affected their own offspring size. Shoot size negatively affected the overwintering of shoots. In the warm climate with a long growing period (9 months), both early-emerging shoots and the subsequent high order tillering shoots developed in large numbers. In the cool climate with a short growing period (6 months), more than half of the annual births occurred in August and September. Nevertheless, average longevity and wintering competency of shoots were not greatly different between the two populations. In response to a warmer climate, tillerings started earlier. This appeared to increase the total number of new shoots that would die within the year; nevertheless, the shoot densities remained much higher because a longer growing season would increase the number of high order tillerings. There was thus a trade-off between the annual survival ratio of new shoots and the number of annual shoot births.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aamlid TS (1992) Effects of temperature and photoperiod on growth and development of tillers and rhizomes in Poa pratensis L. ecotypes. Ann Bot 69:289–296
Ashmun JW, Thomas RJ, Pitelka LF (1982) Translocation of photoassimilates between sister ramets in two rhizomatous forest herbs. Ann Bot 49:403–415
Barkham JP (1980a) Population dynamics of the wild daffodil (Narcissus pseudonarcissus). I. Clonal growth, seed reproduction, mortality and the effects of density. J Ecol 68:607–633
Barkham JP (1980b) Population dynamics of the wild daffodil (Narcissus pseudonarcissus). II. Changes in number of shoots and flowers, and the effect of bulb depth on growth and reproduction. J Ecol 68:635–664
Bernard JM (1976) The life history and population dynamics of shoots of Carex rostrata. J Ecol 64:1045–1048
Bernard JM (1990) Life history and vegetative reproduction in Carex. Can J Bot 68:1441–1448
Bishop GF, Davy AJ (1984) Significance of rabbits for the population regulation of Hieracium pilosella in Breckland. J Ecol 72:273–284
Bishop GF, Davy AJ (1985) Density and the commitment of apical meristems to clonal growth and reproduction in Hieracium pilosella. Oecologia 66:417–422
Bradley NL, Leopold AC, Ross J, Huffaker W (1999) Phenological changes reflect climate change in Wisconsin. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 96:9701–9704
Brooker RW, Carlsson BÅ, Callaghan TV (2001) Carex bigelowii ex Schweinitz (C. rigida Good., non Schrank; C. hyperborean Drejer). J Ecol 89:1072–1095
Bullock JM, Clear Hill B, Silvertown J (1994) Tiller dynamics of two grasses—responses to grazing, density and weather. J Ecol 82:331–340
Cain ML, Damman H (1997) Clonal growth and ramet performance in the woodland herb, Asarum canadense. J Ecol 85:883–897
Carlsson BÅ, Callaghan TV (1990) Effects of flowering on the shoot dynamics of Carex bigelowii along an altitudinal gradient in Swedish lapland. J Ecol 78:152–165
Carlsson BÅ, Callaghan TV (1994) Impact of climate change factors on the clonal sedge Carex bigelowii: implications for population growth and vegetative spread. Ecography 17:321–330
Cheplick GP (1995) Life history trade-offs in Amphibromus scabrivalvis (Poaceae): allocation to clonal growth, storage, and cleistogamous reproduction. Am J Bot 82:621–629
Czarnecka B (2008) Spatiotemporal patterns of genets and ramets in a population of clonal perennial Senecio rivularis: plant features and habitat effects. Ann Bot Fennici 45:19–32
Damman H, Cain ML (1998) Population growth and viability analyses of the clonal woodland herb, Asarum canadense. J Ecol 86:13–26
de Kroon H, Plaisier A, van Groenendael J (1987) Density dependent simulation of the population dynamics of a perennial grassland species, Hypochaeris radicata. Oikos 50:3–12
Eriksson O (1985) Reproduction and clonal growth in Potentilla anserina L. (Rosaceae): the relation between growth form and dry weight allocation. Oecologia 66:378–380
Eriksson O (1986) Survivorship, reproduction and dynamics of ramets of Potentilla anserina on a Baltic seashore meadow. Vegetatio 67:17–25
Eriksson O (1989) Seedling dynamics and life histories in clonal plants. Oikos 55:231–238
Eriksson O (1994) Stochastic population dynamics of clonal plants: numerical experiments with ramet and genet models. Ecol Res 9:257–268
Geber MA, Watson MA, Robert F (1992) Genetic differences in clonal demography in Eichhornia crassipes. J Ecol 80:329–341
Goldberg DE (1988) Response of Solidago canadensis clones to competition. Oecologia 77:357–364
Hara T, Herben T (1997) Shoot growth dynamics and size-dependent shoot fate of a clonal plant, Festuca rubra, in a mountain grassland. Res Popul Ecol 39:83–93
Hartnett DC (1990) Size-dependent allocation to sexual and vegetative reproduction in four clonal composites. Oecologia 84:254–259
Hartnett DC, Bazzaz FA (1985) The genet and ramet population dynamics of Solidago canadensis in a abandoned field. J Ecol 73:407–413
Hartvigsen G, McNaughton SJ (1995) Tradeoff between height and relative growth rate in a dominant grass from the Serengeti ecosystem. Oecologia 102:273–276
Hori Y, Yokoi T, Yokoi Y (1987) Production dependence of vegetative propagation in Disporum smilacinum A. Gray. Ecol Res 2:243–253
Huzimura I (1971) Climate and weather of Mt. Fuji (published as an independent volume). Rep Integrated Surv Mt. Fuji, Tokyo
Jerling L (1988) Population dynamics of Glaux maritima (L.) along a distributional cline. Vegetatio 74(2–3):161–170
Jónsdóttir GÁ (1991) Tiller demography in seashore populations of Agrostis stolonifera, Festuca rubra and Poa irrigata. J Veg Sci 2:89–94
Kays S, Harper JL (1974) The regulation of plant and tiller density in a grass sward. J Ecol 62:97–105
Kim E, Donohue K (2011) Demographic, developmental and life-history variation across altitude in Erysimum capitarum. J Ecol 99:1237–1249
Kleijn D, Steinger T (2002) Contrasting effects of grazing and hay cutting on the spatial and genetic population structure of Veratrum album, an unpalatable, long-lived, clonal plant species. J Ecol 90:360–370
Klimešová J, Klimeš L (2008) Clonal growth diversity and bud banks of plants in the Czech flora: an evaluation using the CLO-PLA3 database. Preslia 80:255–275
Kobayashi K (1981) Studies on the growth and maintenance of patch of Miscanthus sinensis Anderss: formation process of the patch and its ecological characteristics in a warm region. J Jpn Grassl Sci 27:71–78 (in Japanese with English summary)
Kobayashi K (1988) Characteristics of the growth of the shoot population in Miscanthus sinensis Anderss. patches. Jpn J Ecol 38:229–242 (in Japanese with English synopsis)
Kobayashi K (1992) A maximum areal size of isolated patches of Miscanthus sinensis Anderss. growing in warm region. Jpn J Ecol 42:45–59 (in Japanese with English synopsis and summary)
Kobayashi K, Yokoi Y (2001) Decreasing shoot density of isolated Miscanthus sinensis patches in the warm-temperate region of Japan. Grassl Sci 47:460–470
Kobayashi K, Yokoi Y (2003a) Spatiotemporal patterns of shoots within an isolated Miscanthus sinensis patch in the warm-temperate region of Japan. Ecol Res 18:41–51
Kobayashi K, Yokoi Y (2003b) Shoot population dynamics of persisting clones of Miscanthus sinensis in the warm-temperate region of Japan. J Plant Res 116:443–453
Kobayashi K, Yokoi Y, Masuzawa T (2011) Ontogenetic changes in accumulation of rhizomes in monoclonal patch of Miscanthus sinensis Anderss. in warm temperate region of Japan. J Plant Res 124:359–369
Koike K, Shôji S, Yoshida S (1975) Aboveground biomass and litter in the Miscanthus sinensis community. In: Numata M (ed) Ecological studies in Japanese grasslands with special reference to the IBP area—productivity of terrestrial communities. JIBP synthesis, vol 13. University of Tokyo Press, Tokyo, pp 141–147
Koizumi H (1984) Evergreen perennial herbs. The Heredity 38:19–25 (in Japanese)
Kull T (1995) Genet and ramet dynamics of Cypripedium calceolus in different habitats. Abstr Bot 19:95–104
Makita A, Konno Y, Fujita N, Takada K, Hamabata E (1993) Recovery of a Sasa tsuboiana population after mass flowering and death. Ecol Res 8:215–224
Maruta E (1983) Growth and survival of current-year seedlings of Polygonum cuspidatum at the upper distribution limit on Mt. Fuji. Oecologia 60:316–320
Méndez M, Obeso JR (1993) Size-dependent reproductive and vegetative allocation in Arum italicum (Araceae). Can J Bot 71:309–314
Mendoza A, Franco M (1998) Sexual reproduction and clonal growth in Reinhardtia gracilis (Palmae), an understory tropical palm. Am J Bot 85:521–527
Meyer AH, Schmid B (1999) Experimental demography of the old-field perennial Solidago altissima: the dynamics of the shoot population. J Ecol 87:17–27
Mizuki I, Ishida K, Kikuzawa K (2005) Sexual and vegetative reproduction in the aboveground part of a dioecious plant, Dioscorea japonica (Dioscoreaceae). Ecol Res 20:387–393
Moore JE, Franklin SB, Wein G, Collins BS (2012) Long-term population demography of Trillium recurvatum on loess bluffs in western Tennessee, USA. AoB PLANTS, USA. doi:10.1093/aobpla/pls015
Muir AM (1995) The cost of reproduction to the clonal herb Asarum canadense (wild ginger). Can J Bot 73:1683–1686
Noble JC, Bell AD, Harper JL (1979) The population biology of plants with clonal growth. I. The morphology and structural demography of Carex arenaria. J Ecol 67:983–1008
Numata M (1979) Distribution of grasses and grasslands in Asia. In: Numata M (ed) Ecology of grasslands and bamboolands in the world. VEB Gustav, Fischer Verlag, Jena, pp 92–102
Numata M, Mitsudera M (1969) Efficient environmental factors to the growth and production of the Miscanthus sinensis grasslands in Japan. Jpn J Bot 20:135–151
Ogata N, Nagatomo Y (1971) A few suggestions to the object of weeds control on the Japanese plume-grass (Miscanthus sinensis Anderss) community and its ecological aspect in silviculture. Zassô Kenkyu 12:52–54 (in Japanese)
Piqueras J (1999) Herbivory and ramet performance in the clonal herb Trientalis europaea L. J Ecol 87:450–460
Pitelka LF, Ashmun JW (1985) Physiology and integration of ramets in clonal plants. In: Jackson JBC, Buss LW, Cook RE (eds) Population biology and evolution of clonal organisms. Yale Univ Press, New Haven, London, pp 399–435
Rabinowitz D, Rapp LK, Cairns S, Mayer M (1989) The persistence of rare prairie grasses in Missouri: environmental variation buffered by reproductive output of sparse species. Am Nat 134:525–544
Reekie EG (1991) Cost of seed versus rhizome production in Agropyron repens. Can J Bot 69:2678–2683
Reekie EG (1997) Trade-offs between reproduction and growth influence time of reproduction. In: Bazzaz FA, Grace J (eds) Plant resource allocation. Academic Press, San Diego, pp 191–209
Reekie EG, Avira-Sakar G (2005) The shape of the trade-off function between reproduction and growth. In: Reekie EG, Bazzaz FA (eds) Reproductive allocation in plants. Elsevier Academic Press, London, pp 189–214
Sampaio MC, Pico FX, Scarano FR (2005) Ramet demography of a nurse bromeliad in Brazilian restingas. Am J Bot 92:674–681
Schleuning M, Huamán V, Matthies D (2008) Flooding and canopy dynamics shape the demography of a clonal Amazon understory herb. J Ecol 96:1045–1055
Schmid B, Bazzaz FA, Weiner J (1995) Size dependency of sexual reproduction and of clonal growth in two perennial plants. Can J Bot 73:1831–1837
Schulze J, Rufener R, Erhardt A, Stoll P (2012) The relative importance of sexual and clonal reproduction for population growth in the perennial herb Fragaria vesca. Popul Ecol 54:369–380
Silvertown J, Lovett Doust J (1993) Introduction to plant population biology. Blackwell Science, Oxford
Snow AA, Whigham DF (1989) Cost of flower and fruit production in Tipularia discolor (Orchidaceae). Ecology 70:1286–1293
Sokal RR, Rohlf FJ (1995) Biometry: the principles and practice of statistics in biological research, 3rd edn. Freeman, New York
Sun S, Frelich LE (2011) Flowering phenology and height growth pattern are associated with maximum plant height, relative growth rate and stem tissue density in herbaceous grassland species. J Ecol 99:991–1000
Suvensson BM, Carlsson BÅ, Karlsson PS, Nordell KO (1993) Comparative long-term demography of three species of Pinguicula. J Ecol 81:635–645
Taylor AH, Zisheng Q (1993) Structure and dynamics of bamboos in the Wolong Natural Reserve, China. Am J Bot 80:375–384
Thiele J, Jørgensen RB, Hauser TP (2009) Flowering does not decrease vegetative competitiveness of Lolium perenne. Basic Appl Ecol 10:340–348
Tybjerg H, Vestergaard P (1992) Growth dynamics in the rhizomatous herb Polygonatum verticillatum. Oikos 65:395–408
Vallejo-Marín M, Dorken ME, Barrett SCH (2010) The ecological and evolutionary consequences of clonality for plant mating. Annu Rev Ecol Evol Syst 41:193–213
van Drunen WE, Dorken ME (2012) Trade-offs between clonal and sexual reproduction in Sagittaria latifolia (Alismataceae) scale up to affect the fitness of entire clones. New Phytol 196:606–616
Weber E, Schmid B (1998) Latitudinal population differentiation in two species of Solidago (Asteraceae) introduced into Europe. Am J Bot 85:1110–1121
Weiner J (1988) The influence of competition on plant reproduction. In: Lovett Doust J, Lovett Doust L (eds) Plant reproductive ecology: patterns and strategies. Oxford Univ Press, New York, London, pp 228–245
Weiner J, Campbell LG, Pino J, Echarte L (2009) The allometry of reproduction within plant populations. J Ecol 97:1220–1233
Weppler T, Stoll P, Stöcklin J (2006) The relative importance of sexual and clonal reproduction for population growth in the long-lived alpine plant Geum reptans. J Ecol 94:869–879
Wikberg S, Svensson BM (2003) Ramet demography in a ring-forming clonal sedge. J Ecol 91:847–854
Yoshie F (2007) Length of the pre-reproductive period of Plantago asiatica L. from different latitudes. Plant Species Biol 22:135–139
Zhang JT, Mu CS, Wang DL, Wang JF, Chen GX (2009) Shoot population recruitment from a bud bank over two seasons of undisturbed growth of Leymus chinensis. Botany 87:1242–1249
Acknowledgements
We thank Drs. Takehiro Masuzawa, Hiroshi Tamura and the members of the Laboratory of Physiological Plant Ecology at Shizuoka University for continually providing valuable advice during the study. Thanks are due to Mrs. Tomoko Yokoi, the late Mr. Pierre Robert and Mrs. Sanae Kobayashi for their deep understandings of the study and for their support. We acknowledge the valuable comments of two anonymous reviewers.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Appendices
Appendix S1
Shoot replacement for maintaining the populations in different climates
At the S and F plots, each of the shoot populations exhibited similar patterns of density changes every year (Fig. 1). The monthly net number of new or old shoots over the 5-year period was expressed as the mean of a single year, and for convenience of comparison it was normalized to the mean number of old shoots in early June: for example, the mean number of old shoots at the S plot in early June, 779 ± 111 (mean ± SD; n = 5), was reckoned at 1, being taken as a base of comparison (Fig. S3). Over a period of 5 months from late May–early June to late October–mid-November, the survival ratio of old shoots (defined as the ratio of the final number to initial number) in an average year was 0.66 ± 0.07 (n = 5) at the S plot and 0.73 ± 0.09 (n = 5) at the F plot, being significantly similar between the two plots (Mann–Whitney test, P = 0.310). At the S plot, most of the old shoots withered until January, except for a tiny minority of shoots in 1982–1984 (0.8% of initial number), whereas at the F plot, all the old shoots died by December.
The mean numbers of overwintering shoots at the S and F plots peaked at 970 ± 128 (n = 5) in December and at 512 ± 50 (n = 5) in May, respectively (Fig. S3). To maintain a stable population size at S plot, new shoots needed to be at least 24% greater than the number of old shoots in early June, whereas at the F plot, the number of new shoots needed to be only about the same as the number of old shoots in early June (Figs. 2, S3).
Appendix S2
Environmental factors for flowering
On the whole, the growing period of a plant falls into two main phases, the vegetative and reproductive phases. For Miscanthus sinensis at the Shizuoka and Fujinomiya sites, which have about the same photoperiods, flower buds began to form inside the apex of shoots in late July at both sites (Kobayashi, pers. obs.). At this time, the mean day length was half an hour shorter than the maximum in June (14.5 h). The mean temperatures differed by several degrees between the two sites, but the reproductive phases began at the same time. Therefore, the onset of reproductive phase appears to be regulated by a physiological signal such as the photoperiod rather than the local temperature, as has been observed in most plants (e.g. Bradley et al. 1999; Yoshie 2007). Vernalization may not act as a trigger for such a reproductive factor because some of early-emerging shoots at the S plot flowered within the year (Fig. 4).
It is known that flowering frequencies were positively correlated with rainfall (Rabinowitz et al. 1989) or temperature (Suvensson et al. 1993; Carlsson and Callaghan 1994). However, for M. sinensis in August-October, flowering was not correlated with rainfall or temperature at either the Shizuoka site (n = 5, P = 0.753 or 0.946) or the Fujinomiya site (n = 6, P = 0.800 or 0.879).
Appendix S3
The minimal growing season
The vegetative growing period before the occurrence of tillerings was called a pre-propagative phase for primary tillerings. The duration of the pre-propagative phase for primary tillerings was 3 months at longest, and the time occupied mainly by primary tillerings would be about 2 months between June and July at the Shizuoka site (Kobayashi 1981) or between August and September at the Fujinomiya site. Consequently, the minimal growing season needed to form primary tillers (‘critical duration’) is about 5 months. This time is needed to maintain the potential minimal level of shoot densities by primary tillerings only in a cooler climate. But in an even cooler climate, where the growing season of M. sinensis is shorter than the critical duration, shoots may be unable to obtain sufficient EAT to produce primary tillerings and cause a shortage of resources for primary tillerings by the undergrown parent shoots. Such an insufficient resource is likely to cause a loss in branching intensity and frequency, which should bring about even lower shoot density, as seen also in C. calceolus genets in shady conditions (Kull 1995).
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kobayashi, K., Yokoi, Y. Shoot density of Miscanthus sinensis populations in different habitats and their maintenance mechanisms in relation to shoot growth. J Plant Res 130, 143–156 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-016-0875-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-016-0875-3