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PHENOLOGY AND REPRODUCTIVE ALLOCATION IN ANDROPOGON SCOPARIUS (GRAMINEAE) POPULATIONS IN COMMUNITIES OF DIFFERENT SUCCESSIONAL STAGES
Author(s) -
Roos Frederick H.,
Quinn James A.
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
american journal of botany
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.218
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1537-2197
pISSN - 0002-9122
DOI - 10.1002/j.1537-2197.1977.tb11889.x
Subject(s) - biology , phenology , andropogon , anthesis , population , ecology , reproductive success , botany , agronomy , demography , sociology , cultivar
Successional populations of Andropogon scoparius in Franklin Township, Somerset County, New Jersey, were compared as to their phenology and reproductive allocation. Field data from six populations in old‐fields ranging in age from 2 to 40 years indicated significant differences in both phenology and reproductive effort (ratio of reproductive to total shoot biomass). Mean date of first anthesis was consistently later with increasing age of the old‐field, and the later the first anthesis date for a population, the lower was the reproductive effort. Population data on mean maximum height and seed weight showed no relation to successional age. Greenhouse experiments on three of the populations revealed that most of the field differences were attributable to local habitat effects on phenotypic expression. The possibility of some genetic differentiation paralleling successional age was raised by the consistent (though sometimes statistically not significant) differences between the early (3‐yr) and late (40‐yr) successional populations in date of first anthesis and in reproductive effort under two light intensities and uniform greenhouse conditions.