Effects of genotypic diversity on vegetative growth and reproductive strategies of Scirpus mariqueter population

doi:10.17520/biods.2023478

Abstract

Abstract:

Aims: Biodiversity is crucial for ecosystem functioning, while intraspecific genotypic diversity constitutes a vital component of biodiversity, and its effects at the population level remain unclear. To bridge that gap, we conducted an experiment examining the effects of genotypic diversity on vegetative growth and reproductive strategies.

Methods: This study manipulated the genotypic diversity of an endemic coastal wetland species, Scirpus mariqueter, in China (1, 2, 4, and 8 genotypic diversity), and examined the influence of genotypic diversity on the population’s vegetative growth, asexual reproduction, and sexual reproduction.

Results: Genotypic diversity significantly influenced the productivity of S. mariqueter populations by increasing total biomass and average plant height. Genotypic diversity influenced asexual reproduction, in which corm number, corm biomass, and number of ramets were significantly increased. However, it did not have a significant effect on sexual reproduction. Overall, S. mariqueter populations with high genotypic diversity altered their reproductive strategy to allocate more energy to asexual reproduction. This change would provide S. mariqueter a greater ability for local colonization, which in turn would affect saltmarsh ecosystem processes.

Conclusions: Genotypic diversity has a significant effect on vegetative growth and reproductive strategies of this wetland plant. These findings highlight the significant role of plant intraspecific genotypic diversity in ecosystem functioning, especially in the population dynamics and sustainability of saltmarsh ecosystems which are often characterized by a single dominant plant species.

Key words: genotypic diversity, sexual reproduction, asexual reproduction, additive effects, saltmarsh, soil biota, biomass, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning

Lejie Wu, Zekang Liu, Xing Tian, Qun Zhang, Bo Li, Jihua Wu. Effects of genotypic diversity on vegetative growth and reproductive strategies of Scirpus mariqueter population[J]. Biodiv Sci, 2024, 32(4): 23478.

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URL: https://www.biodiversity-science.net/EN/10.17520/biods.2023478

https://www.biodiversity-science.net/EN/Y2024/V32/I4/23478

Figures/Tables 5

Fig. 1 Effects of Scirpus mariqueter genotypic diversity on plant biomass. (a) Total biomass; (b) Aboveground biomass; (c) Belowground biomass. Different little letters indicate significant differences between levels (P < 0.05).

Fig. 2 Effects of Scirpus mariqueter genotypic diversity on vegetative growth (a, b), asexual reproduction (c, d, e) and sexual reproduction (f, g, h). (a) Total biomass; (b) Plant height; (c) Ramet number; (d) Corm number; (e) Corm weight; (f) Inflorescence number; (g) Seed number; (h) Seed weight. Different little letters indicate significant differences between levels (P < 0.05).

Fig. 3 Effects of Scirpus mariqueter genotypic diversity on reproductive allocation. (a) Differences in proportion of sexual reproduction biomass; (b) Proportion of asexual reproduction biomass; (c) Ratio of sexual and asexual reproduction biomass. Different little letters indicate significant differences between levels (Kruskal-Wallis tests P < 0.05).

Fig. 4 Additive versus non-additive effects of different genotypic diversity on plant traits of Scirpus mariqueter. Shown are the distributions of the 9,999 sets of predicted values of plant traits. Shaded parts highlight the area outside of the 95% confidence intervals. Arrows indicate the location of the observed means.

Fig. 5 Spearman’s correlation between the plant traits of Scirpus mariqueter and soil nutrient and microbial indicators. The color represents the strength of the correlation coefficient, and the significance is marked with asterisks (* P < 0.05; ** P < 0.01; *** P < 0.001). SOC, Soil organic carbon; MBC, Microbial biomass carbon; Bacteria_PC1, The first principal component of bacteria community; Fungi_PC1, The first principal component of fungi community.

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