In biogeomorphic landscapes, plant traits can steer landscape development through plant-mediated feedback interactions. Interspecific differences in clonal expansion strategy can therefore lead to the emergence of different landscape organisations. Yet, whether landscape-forming plants adopt different clonal expansion strategies depending on their physical environment remains to be tested. Here, we use a field survey and a complementary mesocosm approach to investigate whether sediment deposition affects the clonal expansion strategy employed by dune-building marram grass individuals. Our results reveal a consistent shift in expansion pattern from more clumped, Brownian-like, movement in sediment-poor conditions, to patchier, Lévy-like, movement under high sediment supply rates. Additional model simulations illustrate that the sediment-dependent shift in movement strategies induces a shift in optimisation of the cost-benefit relation between landscape engineering (i.e. dune formation) and expansion. Plasticity in expansion strategy may therefore allow landscape-forming plants to optimise their engineering ability depending on their physical landscape.
Keywords: Ammophila arenaria; Lévy movement; biogeomorphic landscapes; clonal expansion; coastal dunes; engineering traits; habitat modification.
© 2020 The Authors. Ecology Letters published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.