Latitudinal growth and reproductive strategies of populations of Phragmites australis in estuaries

doi:10.1093/jpe/rtag029

J Plant Ecol ›› 2026, Vol. 19 ›› Issue (4): rtag029.DOI: 10.1093/jpe/rtag029

• Special Issue: Clonal Plants as Agents of Change • Next Articles

Latitudinal growth and reproductive strategies of populations of Phragmites australis in estuaries

Tao Fang¹, Yi-Fan Liu¹, Yu-Han Chen¹, Yu Jin¹, Ting Wu¹, Ju-Juan Gao², Yao-Jun Zhu^{3, 4} and Fang-Li Luo^{1, 5, *}

1 School of Ecology and Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China;
2 Fujian MinJiang River Estuary Wetland National Nature Reserve Administrative Office, Fuzhou 350200, China;
3 Institute of Ecological Conservation and Restoration, Research Institute of Wetland, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China;
4 Zhanjiang National Research Station for Mangrove Wetland Ecosystem, Zhanjiang 524448, China;
5 The key Laboratory of Ecological Protection in the Yellow River Basin of National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Beijing 100083, China
*Corresponding author. E-mail: ecoluofangli@bjfu.edu.cn

Received:2025-06-12 Revised:2025-08-30 Accepted:2026-01-31 Published:2026-03-25
Supported by:
This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant numbers 32371584 and 32071525).

河口芦苇种群生长和繁殖策略的纬度格局

Abstract

Abstract: Phragmites australis is a dominant species in estuaries. It can reproduce sexually and clonally. Understanding the latitudinal patterns of the traits can help in predicting adaptive strategies across environmental gradients. However, changes in growth and reproductive traits of P. australis, as well as growth-reproduction relationships along latitudinal gradients remain unclear. We sampled P. australis from five estuaries along latitudinal gradients in China and analyzed changes in growth, reproductive, and biomass allocation. The results revealed that with increasing latitude, the ramet height, flowering frequency, inflorescence biomass per flowering ramet, and weight of 100 seeds increased, whereas the ramet density generally decreased. The latitudinal growth and reproduction patterns were primarily influenced by variations in the temperature, precipitation, and light intensity. These results suggest that high-latitude P. australis populations may reduce their flowering and seed production under climate warming.

Phragmites australis populations in estuaries can adjust plant height and reproductive investment to adapt to latitudinal environments. Flowering and non-flowering ramets exhibit different biomass allocation strategies along latitudinal gradient.

Key words: arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, plant biomass, water availability, non-commercial plants

摘要：
芦苇(Phragmites australis)是河口湿地的优势物种，兼具有性和克隆繁殖能力。理解芦苇功能性状的纬度格局有助于预测其沿着环境梯度的适应性策略。然而，芦苇生长、繁殖性状以及两者之间的关系沿着纬度梯度的变化仍不清楚。本研究沿中国纬度梯度，采集5个典型河口芦苇样品并分析了其生长、繁殖和生物量分配的变化。结果表明，随着纬度的增加，分株高度、开花频率、开花分株花序生物量和种子百粒重均呈增加趋势，而分株密度总体呈下降趋势。芦苇生长和繁殖模式的维度格局主要受温度、降水和光照强度的影响。上述结果表明，未来气候变暖将减少高纬度芦苇种群花序并抑制种子生长。

关键词: 异速生长, 芦苇 (Phragmites australis), 生长策略, 纬度变异, 繁殖策略

Tao Fang, Yi-Fan Liu, Yu-Han Chen, Yu Jin, Ting Wu, Ju-Juan Gao, Yao-Jun Zhu, Fang-Li Luo. Latitudinal growth and reproductive strategies of populations of Phragmites australis in estuaries[J]. J Plant Ecol, 2026, 19(4): 0-.

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Latitudinal growth and reproductive strategies of populations of Phragmites australis in estuaries

河口芦苇种群生长和繁殖策略的纬度格局

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