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Dispersal of Goeppertia marantifolia clonal offspring increases with greater canopy openness and larger plant size

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2017

David P. Matlaga ,
Rachel K. Snyder  and
Carol C. Horvitz
David P. Matlaga*
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Susquehanna University, 514 University Avenue Selinsgrove, PA 17870, USA
Rachel K. Snyder
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Susquehanna University, 514 University Avenue Selinsgrove, PA 17870, USA
Carol C. Horvitz
Affiliation:
University of Miami, Department of Biology, 1301 Memorial Drive, Coral Gables, FL 33124, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Email: matlaga@susqu.edu
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Abstract:

Many plants within the neotropical understorey produce both seeds and clonal offspring. Plant attributes (i.e. size) and variability in light can influence seed dispersal but it is not known if these factors influence the dispersal of clonal offspring. Our goal was to determine if canopy openness and plant size influence clonal-offspring dispersal of the herb Goeppertia marantifolia, which produces clonal bulbils on above-ground shoots. We monitored plants in permanent plots with varying levels of canopy openness in Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica. We recorded canopy openness, leaf area and the distance clonal offspring travelled from their parent plant (N = 283). Our path analysis model demonstrated that canopy openness had a strong positive effect on dispersal distance, while the association between clonal-offspring dispersal distance and parent plant leaf area was only weakly positive. On average, plants experiencing high canopy openness dispersed their clonal offspring further than plants under low canopy openness (124 cm vs. 79 cm, respectively). Contrary to studies on species that utilize rhizomes and stolons for clonal reproduction, we found that in this bulbil-producing species light availability is positively associated with clonal dispersal distance. Therefore, the influence of resource availability on spatial population dynamics of clonal species may be influenced by the species’ growth-form.

Keywords

clonal dispersalclonal mobilitydispersal distance light availabilityvegetative growth
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 33 , Issue 2 , March 2017 , pp. 107 - 113
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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