Biology of the bamboo Chusquea culeou (Poaceae: Bambusoideae) in southern Argentina

Abstract

Over a period of 7 years the biology and phenotypic variability of Chusquea culeou were studied at 5 locations in cool temperate forests of southern Argentina. Excavated rhizomes had an average of 1.1 successful rhizome buds, and an average of 2.1 years elapsed between successive generations of rhizomes. Rhizome buds usually develop within the first four years after a rhizome forms. Height, volume and weight of a culm can be calculated from its diameter 1 m above the ground. Culm size, length of foliage leaf blades, and pattern of secondary branching differed among study sites. Dead culms were numerous and commonly remained erect for more than 7 years after dying. New culm shoots appear in spring and reach full size within a few months. Shoots can grow more than 9 cm/day. Less than half of the shoots survived a year; most were killed by moth larvae. Multiple primary branch buds emerge through the culm leaf sheaths in the second spring. The mean number of branch buds at mid-culm nodes varied between 34.8 and 81.5, and the mean number of primary branches was between 22.8 and 40.8. Number and length of branches, and number and length of foliage leaf blades at each node is related to the position of the node on a culm. Most branches grow about 3 cm and produce 1 to 3 foliage leaves annually. Foliage leaf blades generally live 2 years or more; few survive 6 years. Relative lengths of foliage leaf blades and their spacing along a branch permit recognition of annual cohorts.Both gregarious and sporadic flowering have been reported, and every year a few isolated plants flower and die. Length of the life cycle is unknown. Seedlings require up to 15 years to produce culms of mature size. Foliage branches may live more than 23 years, and culms may survive 33 years. Extensive loss of new shoots to predation suggests that gregarious flowering may be driven by a need to escape parasitism. C. culeou clumps expand slowly. Average annual rate of increase of the number of live culms in a clump was 4.6?o. Methods of seed dispersal are undocumented. A dense stand of Chusquea culeou had an estimated phytomass of 179 tons/hectare (dry weight), 28 ?o of which was underground. Net annual production was about 16 t/ha dry weight.

Sun-shade variation in bamboo (Poaceae: Bambusoideae) leaves

“…Consistent differences in leaf morphology and anatomy were observed between sun and shade plants or leaves in Y. niitakayamensis, C. culeou and P. aurea. The smaller leaf size, thicker leaf blades and closer vein spacing found in sun leaves are consistent with findings in other taxa exhibiting sun-shade variation, including the strong negative correlation between mean leaf length and light intensity index observed by Pearson et al (1994) in C. culeou.…”

“…Preliminary observations of two species of woody bamboos, Yushania niitakayamensis and Chusquea culeou, which occur in both shaded forest understoreys and adjacent clearings and grasslands (Lin 1978, Chen 1989, Pearson et al 1994, revealed morphological and anatomical variation between sun and shade leaves, especially with respect to the presence or absence of fusoid cells. In our studies, we also included Phyllostachys aurea (an Asian bamboo now widely cultivated) because of its putative lack of fusoid cells, and Bambusa longispiculata (another Asian bamboo often found in cultivation) because of its relatively large fusoid cells.…”

Flowering and fruiting of Aulonemia aristulata: a gynomonoecious woody bamboo species from Atlantic Forest in Brazil

“…The causes of the synchronized flowering and fruiting are intensely debated in the literature, and the probable evolutionary explanations for the phenomenon include predator satiation (Janzen 1976), escape from parasites (Pearson et al 1994) and the fire cycle hypothesis (Keeley & Bond 1999). Moreover, synchronized flowering has been referenced as an advantage assuring the efficiency of wind pollination (Waller 1993, Kelly et al 2001, Koenig & Ashley 2003 as seems to be the case in A. aristulata.…”

Comparing Simulated Carbon Budget of a Lei Bamboo Forest with Flux Tower Data

“…At mean while, multiple ecologic functions had been provided by bamboo forests in cultivation arers (Kleinhenz and Midmore 2001). Due to its great potential for rapid biomass production (Pearson et al 1994;Scurlock et al 2000), bamboo is a vital net carbon sink under global climate change (Isagi et al 1997;Chen et al 2009;Zhuang et al 2011). Some researchers reported that bamboo forests, such as mao bamboo forest, have more efficient carbon sequestration than typical temperate forests, like Chinese fire and mason pine, in southern China (Zhou and Jiang 2004).…”