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Population Dynamics and Life History of Euphorbia rosescens, a Perennial Herb Endemic to Florida Scrub

Euphorbia rosescens is a recently described plant that is narrowly endemic to the Lake Wales Ridge. Little is known of the ecology or life history of this diminutive, deeply rooted polygamodioecious perennial. We studied 13 subpopulations of this species from 2004–2012 from five habitats, sampling m...

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Autores principales: Smith, Stacy A., Menges, Eric S.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4959700/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27454519
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0160014
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author Smith, Stacy A.
Menges, Eric S.
author_facet Smith, Stacy A.
Menges, Eric S.
author_sort Smith, Stacy A.
collection PubMed
description Euphorbia rosescens is a recently described plant that is narrowly endemic to the Lake Wales Ridge. Little is known of the ecology or life history of this diminutive, deeply rooted polygamodioecious perennial. We studied 13 subpopulations of this species from 2004–2012 from five habitats, sampling monthly during its growing season. Subpopulations were stable year-to-year with annual survivals > 90%, but with considerable within-year dynamics, peaking in density in April and dying back in the fall and winter. Stem densities did not vary among subpopulations, habitats, or by subpopulation gender. Annual plant dormancy was common and decreased subsequent survival. Belowground biomass averaged almost 50 times higher than aboveground biomass. Subpopulations either consisted of entirely female individuals or a mixture of male and functionally andromonoecious individuals and these subpopulation genders remained stable across years. Overall, flowering has been dominated by female plants. Plants produced modest numbers of inflorescences (cyathia), and fruit production was very low. Although most plants survived fire by resprouting, fire decreased survival and had a short-term positive effect on floral production. Lack of fecundity and recruitment are concerns for this state-endangered species, but more information is needed on its breeding system and clonality to make specific management recommendations.
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spelling pubmed-49597002016-08-08 Population Dynamics and Life History of Euphorbia rosescens, a Perennial Herb Endemic to Florida Scrub Smith, Stacy A. Menges, Eric S. PLoS One Research Article Euphorbia rosescens is a recently described plant that is narrowly endemic to the Lake Wales Ridge. Little is known of the ecology or life history of this diminutive, deeply rooted polygamodioecious perennial. We studied 13 subpopulations of this species from 2004–2012 from five habitats, sampling monthly during its growing season. Subpopulations were stable year-to-year with annual survivals > 90%, but with considerable within-year dynamics, peaking in density in April and dying back in the fall and winter. Stem densities did not vary among subpopulations, habitats, or by subpopulation gender. Annual plant dormancy was common and decreased subsequent survival. Belowground biomass averaged almost 50 times higher than aboveground biomass. Subpopulations either consisted of entirely female individuals or a mixture of male and functionally andromonoecious individuals and these subpopulation genders remained stable across years. Overall, flowering has been dominated by female plants. Plants produced modest numbers of inflorescences (cyathia), and fruit production was very low. Although most plants survived fire by resprouting, fire decreased survival and had a short-term positive effect on floral production. Lack of fecundity and recruitment are concerns for this state-endangered species, but more information is needed on its breeding system and clonality to make specific management recommendations. Public Library of Science 2016-07-25 /pmc/articles/PMC4959700/ /pubmed/27454519 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0160014 Text en © 2016 Smith, Menges http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Smith, Stacy A.
Menges, Eric S.
Population Dynamics and Life History of Euphorbia rosescens, a Perennial Herb Endemic to Florida Scrub
title Population Dynamics and Life History of Euphorbia rosescens, a Perennial Herb Endemic to Florida Scrub
title_full Population Dynamics and Life History of Euphorbia rosescens, a Perennial Herb Endemic to Florida Scrub
title_fullStr Population Dynamics and Life History of Euphorbia rosescens, a Perennial Herb Endemic to Florida Scrub
title_full_unstemmed Population Dynamics and Life History of Euphorbia rosescens, a Perennial Herb Endemic to Florida Scrub
title_short Population Dynamics and Life History of Euphorbia rosescens, a Perennial Herb Endemic to Florida Scrub
title_sort population dynamics and life history of euphorbia rosescens, a perennial herb endemic to florida scrub
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4959700/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27454519
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0160014
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