Growth Rules in Clonal Plants and Environmental Predictability -- A Simulation Study

The adaptive nature of clonal growth rules was studied using a Monte Carlo simulation based on a stochastic, spatially explicit growth model. In this model, the development of a clone was controlled by environment-dependent growth rules, acting upon elementary developmental decisions, such as suppression or activation of meristems at certain locations, or modification of internode length. The neutral model, used as a control, simulated a plant of rigid, non-environment-dependent form. Growth proceeded in a spatially and temporally heterogeneous environment. A wide range of environmental types - modelled as mosaics of resource-rich and resource-poor sites - were used for the tests, and analysed in the framework of an information theory model (...)