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Pak. J. Bot., 47(3): 967-978, 2015.

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GROWTH CHARACTERISTICS OF POTENTILLA ANSERINA DETERMINED BY ANALYZING SMALL-SCALE PATCHY HABITATS

KAIYUN XIE^1,3, XIANG ZHAO², YINGJUN ZHANG³, KUANGHU DONG²,  FENGHE¹, LIQIANG WAN¹ AND XIANGLIN LI^1*

Abstract: Patchy distribution of plant populations is a hallmark of saline grassland ecosystem at Weiyuan, YouYu County, Shanxi Province, north China. According to species composition and community dominance, the grassland was divided into 8 patches. First, we investigated and analyzed community characteristics, including α diversity and soil properties (soil moisture, bulk density, pH value, basicity) of the 8 patches of the grassland and found that the 8 patches were obviously divided into 2 categories. Patches I, II, and III formed group 1, and the other patches were included in group 2. The soil moisture, bulk density, pH value, and basicity in group 1 were lower than those in group 2 (p<0.05). Next, we selected Potentilla anserina as a representative species and measured its growth characteristics in each patch and found its root length (df = 46, |t| = 5.84, p<0.0001), spacer length (df = 118, |t|= 3.61, p=0.0005), and stolon length (df =118, |t| = 2.53, p=0.0127) were significantly greater in group 1 than in group 2. We concluded that under relatively good habitat conditions, Potentilla anserina adopted breadth foraging strategy, increased its stolons number, which reduced the risk of death and promoted valid survival by spreading in the available space. On the contrary, under relatively poor habitat conditions and in a highly competitive environment, Potentilla anserina adopted the strength foraging strategy to acquire resource from farther places by increasing its spacer and stolon lengths or rapidly explore new habitats to avoid unfavorable environments.

Key words: Patchy habitat, Potentilla anserina, Plasticity, Patches, Clonal plants.

¹Institute of Animal Sciences (IAS), Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Beijing, China;

²College of Animal Science and Technology, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taigu, China;

³College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China;

^*Corresponding author e-mail: lxl@caas.cn; Fax: +86010-62815997; Phone: +86010-62815997