Do Clonal and Bud Bank Traits Vary in Correspondence with Soil Properties and Resource Acquisition Strategies? Patterns in Alpine Communities in the Scandian Mountains

• Published in: Folia geobotanica 2011-06, Vol.46 (2-3), p.237-254
• Main Authors: Rusch, Graciela M., Wilmann, Bodil, Klimešová, Jitka, Evju, Marianne
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biomedical and Life Sciences; Life Sciences; Plant Ecology; Plant Sciences; Plant Systematics/Taxonomy/Biogeography
• ISSN: 1211-9520; 1874-9348
• DOI: 10.1007/s12224-010-9072-7

Plant traits associated with resource acquisition strategies (specific leaf area (SLA), leaf dry matter content (LDMC), leaf size and plant height) change along gradients of soil properties, being the most conservative in a resource-poor environment and the most dynamic in a resource-rich environment. Clonal attributes also vary along soil and other environmental conditions. We hypothesized that in alpine communities in the Scandian Mts. (1) the average composition of traits in a plant assemblage in terms of i ) the predominance of different clonal growth organ types, ii ) the number of buds in the bud bank, iii ) the distribution of the bud-bank (above- and below ground), iv ) the distance of lateral spread and v ) the longevity of plant – offspring connections would change along a gradient of soil properties and (2) that this variation would be in correspondence with that of traits associated with resource acquisition strategies (SLA, LDMC, leaf size and plant height). Analysis of clonal and bud bank traits for species of alpine communities supported our first hypothesis: with decreasing soil quality the most common clonal growth organs were rhizomes, and there was a predominance of perennial bud banks located at the soil surface or below-ground, low rates of lateral spread and long persistence of plant – offspring connections. Our second hypothesis was partly supported. As predicted, at the level of the plant assemblage, these clonal and bud bank traits were positively associated with LDMC, and negatively with leaf size and plant height. These observations reinforce the hypotheses about trade-offs between acquisition and retention strategies in plants. The only result that was in contradiction with our expectations was the lack of correspondence between clonal and bud bank traits and SLA that could be attributed to errors associated to the measurement of the area of narrow and small leaves or to the dependence of the SLA index on species-specific morphological attributes.