Regional and local effects on reproductive allocation in epicormic and lignotuberous populations of Banksia menziesii

Reproductive allocation (RA) is a measure of how resources (biomass, nutrients) are partitioned between reproductive structures and the rest of the plant. For plants that resprout after fire, the percentage of resources allocated to reproduction may vary depending on their resprouting ability. Our s...

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Main Authors: Groom, Philip, Lamont, Byron
Format: Journal Article
Published: Springer Netherlands 2011
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/26755
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author Groom, Philip
Lamont, Byron
author_facet Groom, Philip
Lamont, Byron
author_sort Groom, Philip
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Reproductive allocation (RA) is a measure of how resources (biomass, nutrients) are partitioned between reproductive structures and the rest of the plant. For plants that resprout after fire, the percentage of resources allocated to reproduction may vary depending on their resprouting ability. Our study examines the percentage RA (biomass, N, P, K) and nutrient content of current season’s growth in southern (Swan Coastal Plain) epicormic and northern (Eneabba Plain) lignotuberous resprouter populations of Banksia menziesii (Proteaceae), a species endemic to nutrient-impoverished sandplains of southwestern Australia. Within each population, plants along road edges were compared with plants not associated with road edges. There was no difference in total nutrient content of current year’s growth between both resprouting types, except that total K in the shoots of lignotuberous populations was >2 times that in the epicormic populations. Non-road lignotuberous plants allocated twice the biomass, N and P, and 13.5 times the K, to reproduction as non-road epicormic plants. Lignotuberous populations had the highest RA (17–34% of biomass, N, P, K), with non-road epicormic populations the lowest RA (3–15%). This can be viewed as an adaptive (ultimate) response to the poorer postfire survival and recruitment conditions where the lignotuberous populations occur.Total biomass and nutrient content of road-edge plants was 2–3 times that of non-edge plants. Lignotuberous populations in both road positions allocated the same fraction of biomass, N and P to reproduction, whereas road-edge populations allocated 10% less K than non-road. Road-edge epicormic populations allocated 5–10% more biomass, N, P and K to reproduction than non-road populations. This can be viewed as an ecophysiological (proximate) response to the better growing conditions created by the roadways that may also ultimately have an adaptive explanation.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-267552017-09-13T15:53:16Z Regional and local effects on reproductive allocation in epicormic and lignotuberous populations of Banksia menziesii Groom, Philip Lamont, Byron Plant Banksia Epicormic Phosphorus Resource allocation Proteaceae Water Relations Seedling Growth Fire Australia Hookeriana Fireprone Lignotuber Mineral nutrients Size Reproductive allocation (RA) is a measure of how resources (biomass, nutrients) are partitioned between reproductive structures and the rest of the plant. For plants that resprout after fire, the percentage of resources allocated to reproduction may vary depending on their resprouting ability. Our study examines the percentage RA (biomass, N, P, K) and nutrient content of current season’s growth in southern (Swan Coastal Plain) epicormic and northern (Eneabba Plain) lignotuberous resprouter populations of Banksia menziesii (Proteaceae), a species endemic to nutrient-impoverished sandplains of southwestern Australia. Within each population, plants along road edges were compared with plants not associated with road edges. There was no difference in total nutrient content of current year’s growth between both resprouting types, except that total K in the shoots of lignotuberous populations was >2 times that in the epicormic populations. Non-road lignotuberous plants allocated twice the biomass, N and P, and 13.5 times the K, to reproduction as non-road epicormic plants. Lignotuberous populations had the highest RA (17–34% of biomass, N, P, K), with non-road epicormic populations the lowest RA (3–15%). This can be viewed as an adaptive (ultimate) response to the poorer postfire survival and recruitment conditions where the lignotuberous populations occur.Total biomass and nutrient content of road-edge plants was 2–3 times that of non-edge plants. Lignotuberous populations in both road positions allocated the same fraction of biomass, N and P to reproduction, whereas road-edge populations allocated 10% less K than non-road. Road-edge epicormic populations allocated 5–10% more biomass, N, P and K to reproduction than non-road populations. This can be viewed as an ecophysiological (proximate) response to the better growing conditions created by the roadways that may also ultimately have an adaptive explanation. 2011 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/26755 10.1007/s11258-011-9935-x Springer Netherlands restricted
spellingShingle Plant
Banksia
Epicormic
Phosphorus
Resource allocation
Proteaceae
Water Relations
Seedling Growth
Fire
Australia
Hookeriana
Fireprone
Lignotuber
Mineral nutrients
Size
Groom, Philip
Lamont, Byron
Regional and local effects on reproductive allocation in epicormic and lignotuberous populations of Banksia menziesii
title Regional and local effects on reproductive allocation in epicormic and lignotuberous populations of Banksia menziesii
title_full Regional and local effects on reproductive allocation in epicormic and lignotuberous populations of Banksia menziesii
title_fullStr Regional and local effects on reproductive allocation in epicormic and lignotuberous populations of Banksia menziesii
title_full_unstemmed Regional and local effects on reproductive allocation in epicormic and lignotuberous populations of Banksia menziesii
title_short Regional and local effects on reproductive allocation in epicormic and lignotuberous populations of Banksia menziesii
title_sort regional and local effects on reproductive allocation in epicormic and lignotuberous populations of banksia menziesii
topic Plant
Banksia
Epicormic
Phosphorus
Resource allocation
Proteaceae
Water Relations
Seedling Growth
Fire
Australia
Hookeriana
Fireprone
Lignotuber
Mineral nutrients
Size
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/26755