Pattern of storage and regrowth in ragwort

Van Der Meijden, E De Boer, NJ Van Der Veen-Van Wijk, CAM

E. Van Der Meijden et al., Pattern of storage and regrowth in ragwort, EVOL ECOL, 14(4-6), 2000, pp. 439-455

25

INGLESE

Article

Environment/Ecology

EVOLUTIONARY ECOLOGY

0269-7653 → ACNP

14

4-6

2000

439 - 455

ISI

0269-7653(2000)14:4-6<439:POSARI>2.0.ZU;2-3

Ragwort plants were damaged experimentally by removing the whole shoot. Wit hin about 1 month the original allocation pattern of biomass to root and sh oot was reestablished to a large extent. If left undisturbed for a longer p eriod, plant growth accelerated into compensatory growth. Intraspecific var iation in storage and tolerance (shoot weight), 1 month after damage, was s ignificant. We could not detect a trade-off between storage or tolerance an d relative growth rate of control plants. Consequently there are no indicat ions for costs involved in storage of resources or in tolerating damage. Al though tolerance is thought to be dependent upon storage of resources, we d etected no effect of storage on tolerance after one event of damage. Storag e is genotype specific, but at the same time highly plastic. We hypothesize that the value of storage in ragwort only becomes evident after repeated d isturbances. Competition, history of herbivory and change of season all aff ected storage radically.