Authors: Christoph Schmid Sibylle Bauer Maik Bartelheimer
Publish Date: 2015/03/04
Volume: 391, Issue: 1-2, Pages: 283-291
Abstract
The test species Hieracium pilosella L was exposed to a gradient of competitive pressure using the closely related species Arabidopsis petraea L VIDOROF Arabidopsis thaliana L Heynh Capsella rubella Reut and Cardamine hirsuta L as neighbouring plants Horizontal root distribution was quantified using a soil monolith methodThe neighbour species could be ranked according to their competitive effect on the test species identifying two weak A thaliana and A petraea and two strong competitors C hirsuta and C rubella The degree of root segregation correlated negatively with the competitive effect caused by the various neighbour speciesWe conclude that root segregation is indeed a response to competitive pressure Further factors such as root symbiotic relationships or root exuded allelochemicals are supposedly involved in the outcome of root interactions We propose the use of screening experiments on root responses to various neighbours in order to quantify each factor’s relative influence on rooting patternsThe authors would like to thank their colleagues at the Institute of Plant Sciences University of Regensburg for support especially Christoph Reisch for constructive comments on an earlier version of this paper We would also like to thank two anonymous reviewers for constructive comments on an earlier version of the manuscript Seeds were provided by the Botanical Garden of Regensburg the LMU München the University of Exeter the PU Marburg and the MLU HalleWittenberg
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