Genotypic and phenotypic diversity does not affect productivity and drought response in competitive stands of Trifolium repens
Clonal plants can form dense canopies in which plants of different genetic origin are competing for the uptake of essential resources. The competitive relationships among these clones are likely to be affected by extreme environmental conditions, such as prolonged drought spells, which are predicted...
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doaj-0d8b79f32da840c5af2bd03d2f638c042020-11-25T00:00:27ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Plant Science1664-462X2016-03-01710.3389/fpls.2016.00364180869Genotypic and phenotypic diversity does not affect productivity and drought response in competitive stands of Trifolium repensHeidrun eHuber0Heinjo J. During1Fabien eBruine de Bruin2Peter Johannes Vermeulen3Niels P.R. Anten4Radboud University Nijmegen, Institute of Water and Wetland ResearchUtrecht UniversityRadboud University Nijmegen, Institute of Water and Wetland ResearchWageningen UniversityWageningen UniversityClonal plants can form dense canopies in which plants of different genetic origin are competing for the uptake of essential resources. The competitive relationships among these clones are likely to be affected by extreme environmental conditions, such as prolonged drought spells, which are predicted to occur more frequently due to global climate change. This, in turn, may alter characteristics of the ecological system and its associated functioning.We hypothesized that the relative success of individual clones will depend on the size of the ramets as ramets with larger leaves and longer petioles (large ramets) were predicted to have a competitive advantage in terms of increased light interception over smaller-sized ramets. Under drier conditions the relative performances of genotypes were expected to change leading to a change in genotype ranking. We also hypothesized that increased genotypic and phenotypic diversity will increase stand performance and resistance to drought. These hypotheses and the mechanisms responsible for shifts in competitive relationships were investigated by subjecting genotypes of the important pasture legume Trifolium repens to competition with either genetically identical clones, genetically different but similarly sized clones, or genetically as well as morphologically different clones under well-watered and dry conditions.Competitive relationships were affected by ramet size with large genotypes outperforming small genotypes in diverse stands in terms of biomass production. However, large genotypes also produced relatively fewer ramets than small genotypes and could not benefit in terms of clonal reproduction from competing with smaller genotypes, indicating that evolutionary shifts in genotype composition will depend on whether ramet size or ramet number is under selection. In contrast to our hypotheses, diversity did not increase stand performance under different selection regimes and genotype ranking was hardly affected by soil moisture, indicating that increasing fluctuations in water availability result in few short-term effects on genotypic diversity in this stoloniferous grassland species. Communities dominated by stoloniferous herbs such as Trifolium repens may be relatively resilient to environmental change and to low levels of genetic diversity.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpls.2016.00364/fulldroughtcompetitionClonal growthTrifolium repensGenotypic selectionsize hierarchies |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Heidrun eHuber Heinjo J. During Fabien eBruine de Bruin Peter Johannes Vermeulen Niels P.R. Anten |
spellingShingle |
Heidrun eHuber Heinjo J. During Fabien eBruine de Bruin Peter Johannes Vermeulen Niels P.R. Anten Genotypic and phenotypic diversity does not affect productivity and drought response in competitive stands of Trifolium repens Frontiers in Plant Science drought competition Clonal growth Trifolium repens Genotypic selection size hierarchies |
author_facet |
Heidrun eHuber Heinjo J. During Fabien eBruine de Bruin Peter Johannes Vermeulen Niels P.R. Anten |
author_sort |
Heidrun eHuber |
title |
Genotypic and phenotypic diversity does not affect productivity and drought response in competitive stands of Trifolium repens |
title_short |
Genotypic and phenotypic diversity does not affect productivity and drought response in competitive stands of Trifolium repens |
title_full |
Genotypic and phenotypic diversity does not affect productivity and drought response in competitive stands of Trifolium repens |
title_fullStr |
Genotypic and phenotypic diversity does not affect productivity and drought response in competitive stands of Trifolium repens |
title_full_unstemmed |
Genotypic and phenotypic diversity does not affect productivity and drought response in competitive stands of Trifolium repens |
title_sort |
genotypic and phenotypic diversity does not affect productivity and drought response in competitive stands of trifolium repens |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Plant Science |
issn |
1664-462X |
publishDate |
2016-03-01 |
description |
Clonal plants can form dense canopies in which plants of different genetic origin are competing for the uptake of essential resources. The competitive relationships among these clones are likely to be affected by extreme environmental conditions, such as prolonged drought spells, which are predicted to occur more frequently due to global climate change. This, in turn, may alter characteristics of the ecological system and its associated functioning.We hypothesized that the relative success of individual clones will depend on the size of the ramets as ramets with larger leaves and longer petioles (large ramets) were predicted to have a competitive advantage in terms of increased light interception over smaller-sized ramets. Under drier conditions the relative performances of genotypes were expected to change leading to a change in genotype ranking. We also hypothesized that increased genotypic and phenotypic diversity will increase stand performance and resistance to drought. These hypotheses and the mechanisms responsible for shifts in competitive relationships were investigated by subjecting genotypes of the important pasture legume Trifolium repens to competition with either genetically identical clones, genetically different but similarly sized clones, or genetically as well as morphologically different clones under well-watered and dry conditions.Competitive relationships were affected by ramet size with large genotypes outperforming small genotypes in diverse stands in terms of biomass production. However, large genotypes also produced relatively fewer ramets than small genotypes and could not benefit in terms of clonal reproduction from competing with smaller genotypes, indicating that evolutionary shifts in genotype composition will depend on whether ramet size or ramet number is under selection. In contrast to our hypotheses, diversity did not increase stand performance under different selection regimes and genotype ranking was hardly affected by soil moisture, indicating that increasing fluctuations in water availability result in few short-term effects on genotypic diversity in this stoloniferous grassland species. Communities dominated by stoloniferous herbs such as Trifolium repens may be relatively resilient to environmental change and to low levels of genetic diversity. |
topic |
drought competition Clonal growth Trifolium repens Genotypic selection size hierarchies |
url |
http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpls.2016.00364/full |
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