Effect Of The Soil Nutrients Heterogeneity On Distribution Pattern And Spatial Expansion Of Potentilla Anserine Population

Habitat heterogeneity phenomenon is common in natural ecosystems. Distribution patterns of soil resources patches, patches scale and patches spacing are the important features to characterize soil heterogeneity. Growth in heterogeneous soil patches of clonal plants to search and use of nutritional resources in habitat through ramet colonization and spatial expansion, and a certain population of distribution pattern. However, cloning and spatial distribution pattern type relationship between plant populations expand capacity and soil heterogeneity between patches characteristics also poorly understood. In this experiment, clonal plants Potentilla anserine as experimental materials, field fertilization caused by high nutrient soil patches, designed three kinds of experimental treatment that is different from the pattern of patches types, different patches sizes and different patches spacing to test the effects of soil patches heterogeneity on clonal plant populations. We attempted to answer the following scientific questions:(1) The spatial distribution of clonal plant populations whether change due to pattern types of soil nutrient patches, patches scale and patches spacing different?(2) Whether the condition of soil nutrient heterogeneity of clonal plants always tend to spatial expansion in the direction of high nutritional patches fled low nutrient patches?(3) Whether the differences in the characteristics of soil nutrient patches change the expansion capacity of clonal plants? After two consecutive years of experiments, the main conclusions are as follows:(1) In the pattern of the type of soil nutrient patches, patches size and patches spacing of the three experimental treatments, the distribution pattern type Potentilla anserine populations are aggregated distribution, not changes due to differences in the characteristics of the three soil nutrient patches. But the heterogeneity of soil nutrients have an impact on the pattern scale of Potentilla anserine population. Interannual Potentilla anserine population pattern intensity difference was significant (P<0.05), showing a clear time scale effects.(2) Accumulation patches in the pattern of soil nutrient processing, expand direction of Potentilla anserine stolons tend to high nutrient patches, but random and uniform treatment is presented in random directions stolons expansion characteristics. The smaller the spacing direction patches more likely to expand high-nutrient patches, and the greater the spacing tends to lower nutrient patches. The larger the scale of high-nutrient patches, Potentilla anserine more likely to develop plaque. Therefore, the direction of clonal plant spatial expansion in soil nutrient heterogeneous conditions are not always tend to high nutrient patches flee low-nutrient patches, the direction of expansion changes due to the specific characteristics of soil nutrients heterogeneity.(3) Three experimental treatments, the spacer long and stolons expansion rate of Potentilla anserine are affected. Spatial expansion capacity of Potentilla anserine populations are change due to soil nutrient vegetables heterogeneity, the performance of heterogeneous soil nutrient reduces the spacer long of Potentilla anserine, Potentilla anserine in high nutrient patches within the stolons expansion rate is reduced, and high nutrient patch scale greater the impact on the rate of expansion of the more obvious.(4) Given the different soil patches pattern did not change Potentilla anserine population distribution pattern type and intensity of population pattern between years changes significantly findings, we hypothesized that the early planting of clonal population, population distribution pattern may not rely patches heterogeneity in soil types, but mainly depends on the growth habit of the plant’s own clone, As the year increased, intraspecific competition, nutrient levels between patches and cloning growth habit may affect the completion of the common population pattern of clonal plants.