Clonal Diversity in Differently-Aged Populations of the Pseudo-Annual Clonal Plant Circaea lutetiana L.

Abstract

In many clonal plant species seedling recruitment is restricted to short colonization episodes early in the development of the population, and clonal diversity (i.e., genet diversity) in the population is expected to decrease with increasing population age. In established populations of the pseudo-annual Circaea lutetiana seedling recruitment has previously not been observed. Therefore, we expected established populations to have low clonal diversities. We analysed number and frequency of genets and spatial distribution of genets in six differently-aged C. lutetiana populations with the use of four informative RAPD primers. We found relatively low clonal diversities in young populations but very high clonal diversities in established populations. Therefore, the hypothesis was rejected that seedling recruitment does not occur in established populations. Moreover, we did not find large genet size asymmetries in established populations. Genet size differences can be caused by stochastic processes or by fitness related traits, such as differences in vegetative reproduction. Because vegetative propagation of ramets is dependent on ramet size, and the number of ramets and the size of each ramet determine genet size, we expected that large genets produced, on average, large ramets. However, this was not the case, suggesting that stochastic processes caused genet size differences. Genet size may also be bounded if spatial distribution of genets is affected by micro-habitat differences. For this we expected to find a clumped spatial distribution of ramets of the same genet. However, ramets of large genets were always found intermingled with ramets belonging to other genets.

Abbreviations

ISR: Initial Seedling Recruitment

RSR: Repeated Seedling Recruitment

RAPD: Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA

Clonal plants - population structure - RAPD - recruitment strategy - genetic variation

References

• 01 Bachmann,  K.. (1994);  Molecular markers in plant ecology.  New Phytologist. 126 403-418
• 02 Boufford,  D. E.. (1982);  The systematics and evolution of Circaea (Onagraceae).  Ann. Miss. Bot. Gard.. 69 804-994
• 03 Brookfield,  J. F. Y.. (1992);  DNA fingerprinting in clonal organisms.  Molecular Ecology. 1 21-26
• 04 Brown,  A. H. F., and Oosterhuis,  L.. (1981);  The role of buried seeds in coppice woods.  Biol. Conservation. 21 329-330
• 05 Cain,  M. L., and Damman,  H.. (1997);  Clonal growth and ramet performance in the woodland herb, Asarum canadense. .  J. Ecology. 85 883-897
• 06 Cook,  R. E.. (1985) Growth and development in clonal plant populations. Population biology and evolution of clonal organisms. Jackson, J. B. C., Buss, L. W., and Cook, R. E., eds. New Haven; Yale Univ. Press pp. 259-296
• 07 Damman,  H., and Cain,  M. L.. (1998);  Population growth and viability analyses of the clonal woodland herb, Asarum canadense. .  J. Ecology. 86 13-26
• 08 Ellstrand,  N. C., and Roose,  M. L.. (1987);  Patterns of genotypic diversity in clonal plant species.  Amer. J. Bot.. 74 123-131
• 09 Eriksson,  O.. (1989);  Seedling dynamics and life histories in clonal plants.  Oikos. 55 231-238
• 10 Eriksson,  O.. (1993);  Dynamics of genets in clonal plants.  Trends Ecol. Evol.. 8 313-316
• 11 Eriksson,  O.. (1997) Clonal life histories and the evolution of seed recruitment. The ecology and evolution of clonal plants. de Kroon, H. and van Groenendael, J., eds. Leiden; Backhuys Publishers pp. 211-226
• 12 Eriksson,  O., and Jerling,  L.. (1990) Hierarchical selection and risk spreading in clonal plants. Clonal growth in plants: regulation and function. van Groenendael, J. and de Kroon, H., eds. The Hague; SPB Academic Publishers pp. 79-94
• 13 Hadrys,  H.,, Balick,  M.,, and Schierwater,  B.. (1992);  Applications of random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) in molecular ecology.  Mol. Ecology. 1 55-63
• 14 Halldén,  C.,, Hansen,  M.,, Nilsson,  N.-O.,, and Hjerdin,  A.. (1996);  Competition as a source of errors in RAPD analysis.  Theor. Appl. Genetics. 93 1185-1192
• 15 Hartnett,  D. C., and Bazzaz,  F. A.. (1985);  The genet and ramet population dynamics of Solidago canadensis in an abandoned field.  J. Ecology. 73 407-413
• 16 Inghe,  O.. (1989);  Genet and ramet survivorship under different mortality regimes. A cellular automata model.  J. Theor. Biology. 138 257-270
• 17 Jonsson,  B. O.. (1995);  Old populations of the rhizomatous sedge Carex bigelowii show little intermingling of clones (genets).  Abstracta Botanica. 19 105-113
• 18 Jonsson,  B. O.,, Jonsdottir,  I. S.,, and Cronberg,  N.. (1996);  Clonal diversity and allozyme variation in populations of the Arctic sedge Carex bigelowii (cyperaceae).  J. Ecology. 84 449-459
• 19 Kudoh,  H.,, Shibaike,  H.,, Takasu,  H.,, Whigham,  D. F.,, and Kawano,  S.. (1999);  Genet structure and determinants of clonal structure in a temperate deciduous woodland herb, Uvularia perfoliata. .  J. Ecology. 87 244-257
• 20 Kull,  T.. (1995);  Genet and ramet dynamics of Cypripedium calceolus in different habitats.  Abstracta Botanica. 19 95-104
• 21 Lechowicz,  M. J., and Bell,  G.. (1991);  The ecology and genetics of fitness in forest plants. II. Microspatial heterogeneity of the edaphic environment.  J. Ecology. 79 687-696
• 22 Maddox,  G. D.,, Cook,  R. E.,, Wimberger,  P. H.,, and Gardescu,  S.. (1989);  Clone structure in four Solidago altissima (Asteraceae) populations: rhizome connections within genotypes.  Amer. J. Bot.. 76 318-326
• 23 McClintock,  K. A., and Waterway,  M. J.. (1993);  Patterns of allozyme variation and clonal diversity in Carex lasiocarpa and Carex pellita (Cyperaceae).  Amer. J. Bot. . 80 1251-1263
• 24 McLellan,  A. J.,, Prati,  D.,, Kaltz,  O.,, and Schmid,  B.. (1997) Structure and analysis of phenotypic and genetic variation in clonal plants. The ecology and evolution of clonal plants. de Kroon, H. and van Groenendael, J., eds. Leiden; Backhuys Publishers pp. 185-210
• 25 McNeilly,  T., and Roose,  M. L.. (1984);  The distribution of perennial ryegrass genotypes in swards.  New Phytologist. 98 503-513
• 26 Parker,  P. G.,, Snow,  A. A.,, Schug,  M. D.,, Booton,  G. C.,, and Fuerst,  P. A.. (1998);  What molecules can tell us about populations: choosing and using a molecular marker.  Ecology. 79 361-382
• 27 Piqueras,  J., and Klimes,  L.. (1998);  Demography and modelling of clonal fragments in the pseudoannual plant Trientalis europaea L.  Plant Ecology. 136 213-227
• 28 Piquot,  Y.,, Saumitou-Laprade,  P.,, Petit,  D.,, Vernet,  P.,, and Epplen,  J. T.. (1996);  Genotypic diversity revealed by allozymes and oligonucleotide DNA fingerprinting in French populations of the aquatic macrophyte Sparganium erectum. .  Mol. Ecology. 5 251-258
• 29 Pons,  T. L.. (1983) An ecophysiological study in the field layer of Ash coppice. The Netherlands; PhD thesis Utrecht University
• 30 Rogers,  S. O., and Bendich,  A. J.. (1985);  Extraction of DNA from milligram amounts of fresh, herbarium and mummified plant tissues.  Pl. Mol. Biology. 5 69-76
• 31 Skalova,  H.,, Pechackova,  S.,, Suzuki,  J.,, Herben,  T.,, Hara,  T.,, Hadincova,  V.,, and Krahulec,  F.. (1997);  Within population genetic differentiation in traits affecting clonal growth: Festuca rubra in a mountain grassland.  J. Evol. Biology. 10 383-406
• 32 Slade,  E. A., and Causton,  D. R.. (1979);  The germination of some woodland herbaceous species under laboratory conditions: a multifactorial study.  New Phytologist. 83 549-557
• 33 Soane,  I. D., and Watkinson,  A. R.. (1979);  Clonal variation in populations of Ranunculus repens. .  New Phytologist. 82 557-573
• 34 SPSS. (1993) SPSS for Windows base system user's guide. Release 6.0. Chicago; SPSS Inc.
• 35 Steinger,  T.,, Körner,  C.,, and Schmid,  B.. (1996);  Long-term persistence in a changing climate: DNA analysis suggests very old ages of clones of alpine Carex curvula. .  Oecologia. 105 94-99
• 36 Stewart,  C. N. Jr., and Excoffier,  L.. (1996);  Assessing population genetic structure and variability with RAPD data: Application to Vaccinium macrocarpon (American cranberry).  J. Evol. Biology. 9 153-171
• 37 Struik,  G. J.. (1965);  Growth patterns of some native annual and perennial herbs in southern Wisconsin.  Ecology. 46 401-420
• 38 Van Tienderen,  P. H.. (1991);  Evolution of generalists and specialists in spatially heterogeneous environments.  Evolution. 45 1317-1331
• 39 Verburg,  R. W., and During,  H. J.. (1998);  Vegetative propagation and sexual reproduction in the woodland pseudo-annual Circaea lutetiana L.  Plant Ecology. 134 211-224
• 40 Verburg,  R., and Grava,  D.. (1998);  Differences in allocation patterns in clonal and sexual offspring in a woodland pseudo-annual.  Oecologia. 115 472-477
• 41 Watkinson,  A. R., and Powell,  J. C.. (1993);  Seedling recruitment and the maintenance of clonal diversity in plant populations. A computer simulation of Ranunculus repens. .  J. Ecology. 81 707-717
• 42 Weiner,  J., and Solbrig,  O. T.. (1984);  The meaning and measurement of size hierarchies in plant populations.  Oecologia. 61 334-336
• 43 Williams,  J. G. K.,, Kubelik,  A. R.,, Livak,  K. J.,, Rafelski,  J. A.,, and Tingey,  S. V.. (1990);  DNA polymorphisms amplified by arbitrary primers are useful as genetic markers.  Nucl. Acids Research. 18 6531-6535
• 44 van Zuilen,  C. M.. (1996) Patterns and affinities in the Duguetia alliance (Annonaceae). Molecular and morphological studies. The Netherlands; Ph.D Thesis, Utrecht University

Section Editor: R. Aerts