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Compensatory growth of the clonal understory tree, Asimina triloba, in response to small-scale disturbances

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Abstract

In hardwood forests, clonal understory trees often develop patches of ramets that are interconnected via root systems. The patches are often partially disturbed by litter falling from the forest canopy, and patterns of damage can vary in size and the number of directly affected ramets. To test the effects of different types of disturbance on recovery and development of patches, we conducted a field experiment using the clonal understory tree, Asimina triloba in a hardwood forest of the northeastern USA. Either single large ramets or many small ramets were cut at their base, which removed about half of the aboveground biomass from each patch. Both types of disturbance did not change new ramet production, and the recovery response of A. triloba was primarily achieved by sprouting of damaged ramets. Three years after the manipulation, total aboveground biomass of disturbed patches recovered to pre-treatment levels without cost in terms of reduced growth or survival of undamaged ramets. These results suggest that A. triloba has the ability to persist under different types of disturbance and regrowth of damaged ramets is probably supported by the translocation of resources stored in root systems. On the other hand, damaged ramets grew less for the first year after the disturbance. New ramets also grew less in disturbed patches than in controls, especially where large ramets were damaged. In A. triloba, damage to large ramets may compromise sexual reproduction, which is limited to large ramets, and have negative impacts on new patch establishment via sexual reproduction.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a Graduate Fellowship and a Pre-doctoral Fellowship to Naomi Hosaka from the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. We thank Jun-ichirou Suzuki for constructive comments on earlier versions of the manuscript, and Jay O’Neill, Sara Gómez, Laura Dietrich, Dawn Miller, and Reginald Reid for invaluable field assistance.

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Correspondence to Naomi Hosaka.

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Communicated by Scott J Meiners.

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Hosaka, N., Kachi, N., Kudoh, H. et al. Compensatory growth of the clonal understory tree, Asimina triloba, in response to small-scale disturbances. Plant Ecol 217, 471–480 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-016-0592-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-016-0592-y

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