Clonal integration helps Psammochloa villosa survive sand burial in an inland dune

Rhizomatous clonal plants frequently colonize and stabilize dunes on sea and lake shores, and in inland deserts and desertified areas, where sand burial is common. To date, little attention has been paid to how clonal integration affects their ability to withstand sand burial. In an inland dune Psammochloa villosa ramets were buried under 0, 20, 40 and 60 cm of sand, and the rhizomes at the edges of the 50 x 50 cm(2) treatment quadrats were either severed or left connected. With increasing burial depth the surviving ramets of P. villosa decreased markedly both in number and in size (number of leaves and above-ground biomass). In the connected quadrats, however, sand burial resulted in significantly smaller decreases than in the severed quadrats of the number, but not in size, of the surviving P. villosa ramets. We conclude that clonal integration increased the ability of P. villosa to withstand sand burial, and that P. villosa could emerge from deep burial probably by elongating vertical structures with the help of the energy imported from the connected, unburied ramets.