Collaborative Research: Competitive Ability of Clonal Plants--The Roles of Clonal Integration and Ramet Aggregation in Structuring Plant Communities

本研究探讨了克隆整合和分株聚集这两个重要的克隆属性对克隆植物种间相互作用结果的影响。它将开发一系列的预测，这两个特点如何影响个人水平的竞争能力和整体社区结构。这将使用一系列的实验，使用8个典型的密歇根州东南部的石灰质泥炭地社区的克隆物种。人们希望，在这项建议中概述的工作将整合目前不同的研究领域的植物竞争，克隆整合和觅食和理论研究的空间安排的个人的社区水平的后果的实地研究。这个项目将有助于我们的知识，克隆植物的生态学和我们的理解，如何在个人水平上的竞争转化为物种模式在社区水平。

Goldberg/Gough DEB-9974296/DEB-9974284This study will explore the influence of two important clonal attributes, clonal integration and ramet aggregation, on the outcome of interspecific interactions among clonal plants. It will develop a series of predictions about how these two characteristics influence both individual-level competitive ability and overall community structure. This will be done using a series of experiments using eight clonal species typical of calcareous peatland communities of southeastern Michigan. It is hoped that the work outlined in this proposal will integrate the currently disparate research areas of field studies of plant competition, clonal integration and foraging and theoretical studies of community-level consequences of spatial arrangement of individuals. This project will contribute to our knowledge of the ecology of clonal plants and to our understanding of how competition at the individual level is translated into species patterns at the community level.