PARENT SESSION
Oral Session #3: Plant Population Ecology. Presiding: N. Fetcher.
Monday, August 6, 2001. 8:00 AM to 11:30 AM. Hall of Ideas L&M.
Clonal structure of Andropogon gerardii (big bluestem) in tallgrass prairie.
KEELER, KATHLEEN 1, WILLIAMS, CHARLES2, VESCIO, LINDA1, 1 2
ABSTRACT- Andropogon gerardii dominates the tallgrass prairie biome. As a rhizomatous grass, it can potentially cover huge areas. We analyzed clone dynamics to understand the stability of the distribution of this important grass. Clone sizes were found to average 2 m in diameter at Konza Prairie, Manhattan, KS, and in the City of Boulder Open Space, Boulder, CO, using starch gel electrophoresis to determine protein phenotypes at Konza, flow cytometry to determine ploidy level in both cases and inspection of the species' discontinuous distribution in Boulder. Clone dynamics were followed in Boulder from 1995-1999 and analyzed from a long-term data set from Hays, KS (1932-1972): mean clone expansion was less than 5 cm/year. We conclude that, in general, 1) A. gerardii in tallgrass prairie is genetically diverse with many different individuals, each of modest size and 2) change is relatively slow, because the species spreads slowly.
KEY WORDS: Andropogon gerardii, big bluestem, tallgrass prairie, clone size