Open Access

ARTICLE

Growth of clonal modules on Agropyron michnoi in the Songnen Plain of Northeast China

Zhang J¹, C Zhou², YF Yang¹
1 Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology, Ministry of Education, Institute of Grassland Science, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China 130024.
2 College of Life Science, Liaoning University, Shenyang, China 110036.This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31472134, 31170504, www.nsfc.gov.cn, YFY ).
* Corresponding Author:Address Correspondence to: Prof. Yufei Yang, Fax 086-431-85695065; Phone 086-431-85098994; e-mail:

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany 2015, 84(2), 417-422. https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2015.84.417

Abstract

Spatial expansion of clonal plants and growth of their modules are of concern in the field of plant ecology. After measuring a large number of samples, we analyzed the module components and the growth patterns of vegetatively propagated Agropyron michnoi clones in the Songnen Plain on Northeast China. The results showed that the plasticity of clonal growth was large; the coefficients of variation of both extensive areas and the quantitative characters of modules were more than 20%. The numbers of ramets, seedlings, and buds and the cumulative length of the rhizomes showed exponentially and linearly increasing patterns with increases of the area and the total number of modules. The biomass of each module, total number of modules and total biomass showed an allometric growth pattern, which was best described by power functions. For A. michnoi, there was a relatively stable investment to sexual reproduction; it showed a priority for allocating biomass to reproductive ramets, and also to rhizomes and buds formation.

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Keywords

Agropyron michnoi, Clonal growth, Vegetative propagation, Number of modules, Biomass.

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