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Optimal root proliferation strategies: the roles of nutrient heterogeneity, competition and mycorrhizal networks

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Abstract

Background and Aims Plants proliferate roots in order to acquire nutrients, typically contending with heterogeneous resources and competing neighbours. A mathematical model was developed to identify optimal root proliferation strategies in patchy nutrient environments. The impact of joining mycorrhizal networks was also assessed. Methods A simple model of growth and competition in one spatial dimension was implemented within a genetic algorithm to obtain optimal proliferation strategies under different scenarios of resource distribution, and in the presence or absence of local competition and large-scale mycorrhizal networks.

Results A strong proliferation response emerged for isolated plants in heterogeneous environments with low resources, and also for plants growing in competition. Even in statistically homogeneous environments, the presence of competition conferred a selective advantage to plants proliferating in the direction of the most recently acquired patch. In the presence of mycorrhizal networks, the optimal strategy switched from symbiosis to proliferation driven growth as the relative cost of acquiring resources through the networks increased.

Conclusions The optimal proliferation response in a given scenario was governed by a hierarchy of factors: resource levels and distribution; the presence or absence of competition; and the marginal benefit of obtaining resources via symbiotic relationships with mycorrhizas.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by Biotechnology and Biological Research Council (BBSRC), UK. We thank Professor Alastair Fitter, Professor Richard Law and Doctor Calvin Dytham for their feedback, advice and guidance in the development of this work, and three anonymous reviewers for their insightful and constructive advice and suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of York, Wentworth Way, Heslington, York, YO10 5DD, UK

    Simon Antony Croft, Angela Hodge & Jonathan W. Pitchford

  2. York Centre for Complex Systems Analysis (YCCSA), The Ron Cooke Hub, University of York, Heslington, York, YO10 5GE, UK

    Simon Antony Croft & Jonathan W. Pitchford

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  1. Simon Antony Croft
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  2. Angela Hodge
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Correspondence to Simon Antony Croft.

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Croft, S.A., Hodge, A. & Pitchford, J.W. Optimal root proliferation strategies: the roles of nutrient heterogeneity, competition and mycorrhizal networks. Plant Soil 351, 191–206 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-011-0943-3

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