ibclogo XVI International Botanical Congess


Abstract Number: 2701
Poster No. = 1584


COMPETITIVE RESPONSES OF WILD BARLEY PLANTS FROM DIFFERENT HABITATS: TEST OF PREDICTIONS OF PLANT STRATEGY THEORY


S. Volis, S. Mendlinger and D. Ward Ben Gurion University, Israel


We have studied intra- and interspecific competitive responses of wild barley plants originating from 4 habitats. Three population habitats represented two parallel gradients of rainfall amount and its predictability: desert, semi-steppe batha and Mediterranean grassland. The populations consistently differed in intraspecific competitive responses, but only for density increment from 0 to 4 neighbors. The plants from Mediterranean grassland showed significantly lower decrease in fitness than plants from other environments. Besides, they exhibited highest plasticity in reproductive allocation among populations under both intra- and interspecific competition. These results are largely consistent with Grime's triangular ordination model and the hypothesis that high competitive ability is achieved by morphological plasticity.


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