SHOOT DYNAMICS OF THE GIANT GRASS GYNERIUM-SAGITTATUM IN PERUVIAN AMAZON FLOODPLAINS, A CLONAL PLANT THAT DOES SHOW SELF-THINNING

The giant rhizomatous grass Gynerium sagitatum is an early successional species that forms dense monocultures in Peruvian Amazon floodplains. We studied the shoot population structures by recording shoot densities and shoot heights. Leaf areas and stem volumes were allometrically estimated. Stands of two varieties of G. sagittatum were examined that differ in height and in the degree of shoot branching. In stands of increasing age, marked decreases in shoot densities were accompanied with an increase in mean shoot size. Self-thinning was indicated by the negative correlation between log stem volume per unit ground area and log shoot density, significant at least for one of the two varieties. The difference in thinning slope between the varieties could be largely accounted for by their different shoot geometry, as was revealed by calculations based on the allometric model of Weller (1987b). The relationship between log leaf area per shoot and log shoot density was significantly negative with slopes close to -1. Shoot size inequalities decreased with increasing mean stem volume per shoot, probably as a result of density-dependent mortality of the smaller shoots. All of these results accord with expectations for shoot self-thinning. Gynerium sagittatum is the first clear example of a clonal plant species that exhibits self-thinning in natural monospecific stands. It is argued that self-thinning occurs in this giant tropical grass because its shoots are perennial and do not experience seasonal die-back (periodic density-independent mortality), in contrast to many of the clonal plant species that have been studied so far.