AOBPreview originally published online on February 4, 2008
Annals of Botany 2008 101(5):671-678; doi:10.1093/aob/mcn005
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Clonal Integration Affects Growth, Photosynthetic Efficiency and Biomass Allocation, but not the Competitive Ability, of the Alien Invasive Alternanthera philoxeroides under Severe Stress
1 State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China
2 Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
3 College of Forestry, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China
* For correspondence. E-mail feihaiyu{at}ibcas.ac.cn or dongming{at}ibcas.ac.cn
Received: 6 November 2007 Returned for revision: 7 December 2007 Accepted: 20 December 2007 Published electronically: 4 February 2008
Background and Aims: Many notorious alien invasive plants are clonal, but little is known about some roles and aspects of clonal integration. Here, the hypothesis is tested that clonal integration affects growth, photosynthetic efficiency, biomass allocation and competitive ability of the exotic invasive weed Alternanthera philoxeroides (Amaranthaceae).
Methods: The apical parts of Alternanthera were grown either with or without the lawn grass Schedonorus phoenix (tall fescue) and their stolon connections to the basal parts grown without competitors were either severed or left intact.
Key Results: Competition greatly reduced the maximum quantum yield of photosystem II (Fv/Fm) and growth (biomass, number of ramets and leaves, total stolon length and total leaf area) of the apical Alternanthera, but not the biomass of S. phoenix. Stolon connections significantly increased Fv/Fm and growth of Alternanthera. However, such effects on growth were smaller with than without competition and stolon connections did not alter the relative neighbour effect of Alternanthera. Stolon connections increased Alternanthera's biomass allocation to roots without competition, but decreased it with competition.
Conclusions: Clonal integration contributed little to Alternanthera's competitive ability, but was very important for Alternanthera to explore open space. The results suggest that the invasiveness of Alternanthera may be closely related to clonal integration.
Key words: Alien species, alligator weed, Alternanthera philoxeroides, chlorophyll fluorescence, clonal invasive plants, competition, physiological integration, Schedonorus phoenix
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