BACKGROUND Plastic root-foraging responses have been widely recognized as an important strategy for plants to explore heterogeneously distributed resources. However, the benefits and costs of root foraging have received little attention. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS In a greenhouse experiment, we grew pairs of connected ramets of 22 genotypes of the stoloniferous plant Potentilla reptans in...

Apomixis evolves from a sexual background and usually is linked to polyploidization. Pseudogamous gametophytic apomicts, which require a fertilization to initiate seed development, of various ploidy levels frequently co-occur with their lower-ploid sexual ancestors, but the stability of such mixed populations is affected by reproductive interferences mediated by cross-pollination. Thereby, repr...

Controlled experiments show that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can increase competitiveness of exotic plants, potentially increasing invasion success. We surveyed AMF abundance and community composition in Centaurea stoebe and Potentilla recta invasions in the western USA to assess whether patterns were consistent with mycorrhizal-mediated invasions. We asked whether (1) AMF abundance and ...

A 50-yr study at Fairbanks, AK, was started in 1984 to determine soil seed longevity of 17 weed species. Seeds were buried in mesh bags 2and 15-cm deep and were recovered 0.7, 1.7, 2.7, 3.7, 4.7, 6.7, 9.7, 19.7, and 24.7 yr later. Viability was determined using germination and tetrazolium tests. By 24.7 yr after burial (YAB), no viable seeds were found for common hempnettle, flixweed, foxtail b...

Plenteous ethnotherapeutic properties and pharmacological actions have been attributed to Potentilla fulgens Wall. ex Hook. (FamilyRosaceae). It is one of the highly valued indigenous medicinal herbs of higher Himalaya. Biomedical reports have indicated presence of medicinally important chemical constituents represented by polyphenols, tannins, flavonoids and triterpenoids in the genus. Pharmac...