The research group led by Professor Akifumi Makita of the Faculty of Bioresources, Akita Prefectural University and Associate Professor Hiroshi Tomimatsu of the Faculty of Science, Yamagata University, found that fast-growing clones survived as Chishimazasa grew densely in the forest. It was revealed that it spreads from a relatively bright place to a dark place.
It is known that bamboo grasses extend and spread rhizomes and form clones up to several tens of meters.It has been thought that such clonal plants search for and effectively utilize resources such as water, light, and inorganic nutrients, but it is difficult to investigate how plants search for those resources in the field. , There have been few research cases so far.
The research group tracked a population of Sasa kurilensis that bloomed and died in a beech forest on the shores of Lake Towada in 1995, and analyzed the process of how Sasa kurilensis grows densely again under different light environments.As a result, the faster the clones grow, the easier it is to survive, and the rhizomes grow and spread, and the clones that grow faster in good conditions spread into the forest where light is scarce, and the Sasa kurilensis grows densely throughout the forest. It was revealed that it would be like this.
Plants that extend and spread rhizomes, such as Sasa, contain many dominant species in terrestrial ecosystems, such as invasive alien species, and this research result is a clue to elucidate the mechanism by which these plants grow densely. Is expected to become.
Paper information:[Ecology and Evolution] Genet dynamics of a regenerating dwarf bamboo population across heterogeneous light environments in a temperate forest understorey
