Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 3. (Continued)
Life history
Traits
process:
bud dormancy
allelopathy: e.g., neighbor seed germination inhibitor production
seedling vigor and high relative seedling growth rates
specialized structures for self-planting in soil (e.g., corkscrewing
hydroscopic awns)
Soil:
• emergence from soil depth
• allelopathy: e.g., neighbor seed germination inhibitor production
• seedling vigor and high relative seedling growth rates
• exploitation of all available germination microsites in a locality
• early emergence timing for competitive exclusion of neighbors
Environment:
germination over wide range of conditions
stress-tolerant germination and establishment
disturbance-facilitated recruitment
Vegetative
Genetic:
growth
• exploitation of overlapping niches in a locality by a species-group (intra-
genus, inter-specific variation) OR association of closely related (intra-
genus) species: species-group formation
Plant:
• rapid and efficient vegetative growth (high relative growth rates)
• optimum root-shoot partitioning of vegetative growth
• optimized timing of life history seasonal development forms (somatic
polymorphism):
a] perennating underground structures
b] biennial plant form: overwinter rosette, elongated spring form
(bolting)
• resource acquisition:
a] high water use efficiency
b] enhanced nutrient uptake; luxury consumption
c] root system morphology and architecture for efficient water/nutrient
extraction
d] leaf size/structure somatic polymorphism
e] efficient photosynthesis for locality (e.g., C4, CAM metabolism)
• whole plant regeneration:
a] shoot fragment rooting
b] root fragment shoot growth
• senescence timing
• accumulation of food reserves in underground perennating tissues
• vegetative tissue dormancy
Environment:
vegetative growth plasticity sized to environment
stress tolerance: herbicides; temperature; mowing/cutting; temperature;
resource availability
shoot flexibility and brittleness to survive tillage
internode shortening in response to wind
(Continued on next page)
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