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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

The Spatial Signature Of Biotic Interactions Of A Clonal And A Non-Clonal Palmetto In A Subtropical Plant Community, Mizuki Takahashi, Toshiro Kubota, Liana Horner, Nathan Keller, Warren Abrahamson Jun 2012

The Spatial Signature Of Biotic Interactions Of A Clonal And A Non-Clonal Palmetto In A Subtropical Plant Community, Mizuki Takahashi, Toshiro Kubota, Liana Horner, Nathan Keller, Warren Abrahamson

Warren G. Abrahamson, II

Spatial analyses of plant-distribution patterns can provide inferences about intra- and interspecific biotic interactions. Yet, such analyses are rare for clonal plants because effective tools (i.e., molecular markers) needed to map naturally occurring clonal individuals have only become available recently. Clonal plants are unique in that a single genotype has a potential to spatially place new individuals (i.e., ramets) in response to intra- and interspecific biotic interactions. Laboratory and greenhouse studies suggest that some clonal plants can avoid intra-genet, inter-genet, and inter-specific competition via rootplacement patterns. An intriguing and yet to be explored question is whether a spatial signature of …


Life In The Slow Lane: Palmetto Seedlings Exhibit Remarkable Survival But Slow Growth In Florida's Nutrient-Poor Uplands, W. G. Abrahamson, C. R. Abrahamson Dec 2008

Life In The Slow Lane: Palmetto Seedlings Exhibit Remarkable Survival But Slow Growth In Florida's Nutrient-Poor Uplands, W. G. Abrahamson, C. R. Abrahamson

Warren G. Abrahamson, II

The palmettos Serenoa repens and Sabal etonia are crucial foundation species in many peninsular Florida vegetative associations. We monitored the survival and growth of individual palmetto seedlings using two cohorts found in different vegetative associations. Seedling cohorts containing both S. repens and S. etonia were individually tagged in 1989 and have been monitored until 2008, a period of 19 years. One cohort (N = 100 seedlings) occurs in a xeric, “inopina-phase” scrubby flatwoods and a second cohort (N =78 seedlings) lives in a well-drained, “wiregrass-phase” flatwoods. The soils at both sites are very nutrient-poor Entisols that show rapid permeability, low …


Leaf Traits And Leaf Life Spans Of Two Xeric-Adapted Palmettos, Warren Abrahamson Dec 2006

Leaf Traits And Leaf Life Spans Of Two Xeric-Adapted Palmettos, Warren Abrahamson

Warren G. Abrahamson, II

Plants of nutrient-poor, arid environments often have leaf traits that include small size, sclerophylly, long life span, low nutrient concentration, and low photosynthetic rate. Hence, the success of two large-leaved palmettos in peninsular Florida’s seasonally xeric, nutrient-impoverished uplands seems anomalous, given that their leaves are orders of magnitude larger than the leaves of co-occurring species. An examination of leaf traits and leaf life spans across four vegetative associations differing in available light using a 16-yr data set showed that leaves of Serenoa repens and Sabal etonia had low rates of leaf production coupled with long leaf life spans reaching 3.5 …