AUTHOR=Xi Dao-Guo , You Wen-Hua , Hu An-An , Huang Ping , Du Dao-Lin 

TITLE=Developmentally Programmed Division of Labor in the Aquatic Invader Alternanthera philoxeroides Under Homogeneous Soil Nutrients

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=Volume 10 - 2019

YEAR=2019

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2019.00485

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2019.00485

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=Clonal traits can contribute to the plant invasiveness, but little is known about the roles of division of labor (a key clonal trait) in homogeneous habitats. The hypotheses are tested that clonal integration allows division of labor and increases the overall performance of the invasive clonal plants, especially under higher soil nutrients. Clonal fragment pairs of aquatic invader Alternanthera philoxeroides (each with four ramets and a stolon apex) were grown in two homogenous habitats with high or low soil nutrient supply, and with stolon connections being either severed (clonal integration prevented) or kept intact (clonal integration allowed). Results showed that stolon connection allowed division of labor within the clonal fragment, with basal ramets specializing in acquisition of belowground resources and apical ramets specializing in acquisition of aboveground expansion. Moreover, the capacity for division of labor was greater, which brought clonal fragments of A. philoxeroides stronger clonal propagation and better performance, in high nutrient habitat than in low nutrient habitat. The results supported our hypotheses that developmentally programmed division of labor may facilitate the clonal expansion of this aggressive invader in some homogeneous habitats with high resource availability.