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. 2015 Mar 2:5:8646.
doi: 10.1038/srep08646.

The role of seedling recruitment from juvenile populations of Carex brevicuspis (Cyperaceae) at the Dongting Lake wetlands, China

Zheng-miao Deng  1 , Xin-sheng Chen  1 , Yong-hong Xie  1 , Ya-jun Xie  1 , Zhi-yong Hou  1 , Feng Li  1
Affiliations

The role of seedling recruitment from juvenile populations of Carex brevicuspis (Cyperaceae) at the Dongting Lake wetlands, China

Zheng-miao Deng et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Seedlings and vegetative ramets may contribute differentially to the recruitment of clonal populations in different growth phases, but this has rarely been investigated. In this study, we quantified the number and survivorship of seedlings and vegetative ramets monthly in juvenile and mature populations of Carex brevicuspis. During the first growing season after flooding (from October to January), 9 seedlings m(-2) (13% of all established shoots) were found in juvenile populations, while no seedlings were found in mature populations. During the second growing season before flooding (from February to May), no new seedling recruits were found either in juvenile or in mature populations. All shoots of seedlings were withered during the dormant season (January and February), but 62.5% seedlings could produce vegetative ramets in the following growing season. During the dormant season, all the early emerging ramets (sprouted in October) withered, but the later emerging ones (sprouted in November and December) survived in both mature and juvenile populations. These results indicated that seedling recruitment was only apparent in juvenile populations of C. brevicuspis. The genetic diversity in mature C. brevicuspis populations may be established in juvenile populations by seedling recruitment, and sustained in mature populations by vegetative reproduction.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. The ramet and seedling number dynamics in juvenile (a) and mature populations (b).
* represents a significant difference at the 0.05 level between ramet and seedling numbers in each growing season, independent t test.
Figure 2
Figure 2. The ramet and seedling new recruit dynamics in juvenile (a) and mature populations (b).
* represents a significant difference at the 0.05 level between ramet and seedling numbers in each growing season, independent t test.
Figure 3
Figure 3. The survival patterns in seedling populations (a) and ramet populations in juvenile (b) and mature populations (c).
* represents a significant difference at the 0.05 level between seedlings or ramets with different emerging times. One-way ANOVA.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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