The direction of carbon and nitrogen fluxes between ramets in Agrostis stolonifera changes during ontogeny under simulated competition for light

Resource sharing is universal among connected ramets of clonal plants and is driven both by the developmental status of the ramets and the resource gradients. Above-ground competition forms spatial light gradients, but the role of resource sharing in such competition is unclear. We examined translocation of resources between mother and daughter ramets of Agrostis stolonifera under light heterogeneity throughout ramet ontogeny. We labelled ramets with 13C and 15N to estimate the bidirectional translocation of resources at three developmental stages of the daughters. In addition, we compared the final biomass of integrated and severed ramets in order to estimate the effect of integration on growth. Young developing daughters were supported by carbon, whereas nitrogen was only translocated towards daughters at the beginning of rooting, regardless of the light conditions. Shading of mothers was a major determinant of resource translocation between developed ramets, with carbon being preferentially moved to daughters from shaded mothers while nitrogen translocation was limited from daughters to shaded mothers. Surprisingly, the absolute amounts of translocated resources did not decline during development. Growth of daughters was enhanced by integration regardless of the shading. Overall, A. stolonifera maximizes the resource translocation pattern in order to enable it to spread from unfavourable habitats, rather than compensating for light heterogeneity among ramets.