Causes and consequences of deformations of vascular tissues of Crimean pine understory

Abstract

A characteristic feature of the spatial structure of Crimean pine understory (Pinus pallasicma D. Don) coenopopulations is the uneven density of population fields, which has a fairly strong influence on the plants growth and development. As a rule, on the understory biogroup periphery there are individuals noticeably lagging in growth. With a significant density of plants and a high level of intraspecific competition in the biogroup center, the opposite effect is observed by the researchers. So far, there is no explanation for the mechanism of such differentiation of plants confined to different, sometimes diametrically opposite environmental conditions. Therefore we studied the anatomical and morphological structure of plants confined to diffuse competition zones, as well as non-closed canopy cultures of Crimean pine with low capacity for survival. The results of microscopic studies allowed us to discover deformed vascular tissues of the understory confined to the diffuse competition zones of existing cenopopulations. In each case, the level of vascular tissues deformation will depend on the features of cenopopulations mutual influence, the autoregulation of its structure in accordance with the capacity of the ecological niche.