Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Short-distance Transport of Resources02:12

Short-distance Transport of Resources

Short-distance transport refers to transport that occurs over a distance of just 2-3 cells, crossing the plasma membrane in the process. Small uncharged molecules, such as oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water, can diffuse across the plasma membrane on their own. In contrast, ions and larger molecules require the assistance of transport proteins due to their charge or size. Transport across membranes also occurs within individual cells, playing a variety of essential roles for the plant as a whole.
Responses to Heat and Cold Stress02:45

Responses to Heat and Cold Stress

Every organism has an optimum temperature range within which healthy growth and physiological functioning can occur. At the ends of this range, there will be a minimum and maximum temperature that interrupt biological processes.
Microbial Interactions: Competition01:26

Microbial Interactions: Competition

Microbial competition is an ecological interaction in which microorganisms vie for limited resources within shared environments. These resources may include nutrients, space, or light, depending on the system. The intensity and outcome of competition are influenced by the environmental context, such as nutrient availability, spatial constraints, and the diversity of microbial species present. These competitive interactions significantly influence the structure, function, and resilience of...
Water and Mineral Acquisition02:34

Water and Mineral Acquisition

Specialized tissues in plant roots have evolved to capture water, minerals, and some ions from the soil. Roots exhibit a variety of branching patterns that facilitate this process. The outermost root cells have specialized structures called root hairs that increase the root surface, thus increasing soil contact. Water can passively cross into roots, as the concentration of water in the soil is higher than that of the root tissue. Minerals, in contrast, are actively transported into root cells.
Responses to Gravity and Touch02:26

Responses to Gravity and Touch

Gravitropism: Plant Responses to Gravity
Responses to Salt Stress02:02

Responses to Salt Stress

Salt stress—which can be triggered by high salt concentrations in a plant’s environment—can significantly affect plant growth and crop production by influencing photosynthesis and the absorption of water and nutrients.

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

How Prospecting for Informed Dispersal Shapes Biodiversity Patterns in a Metacommunity.

Ecology and evolution·2026
Same author

Distance to central-place drives species-specific habitat selection in sympatric insectivorous birds.

Movement ecology·2026
Same author

Rethinking Model Transferability: Validity Domains as a New Approach to Delineate the Limits of Bloom Date Projections.

Global change biology·2026
Same author

Clarifying space use concepts in ecology: Range vs. occurrence distributions.

Ecology·2026
Same author

Plastic Germination, Temporal Niche Partitioning and Emergent Assortative Mating in Annual Plants.

Ecology letters·2026
Same author

Growth form and lifespan of herbaceous species mediate the role of traits in short-term drought response.

Nature ecology & evolution·2026

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 1, 2026

Experimental Protocol for Manipulating Plant-induced Soil Heterogeneity
08:16

Experimental Protocol for Manipulating Plant-induced Soil Heterogeneity

Published on: March 13, 2014

Root plasticity buffers competition among plants: theory meets experimental data.

Katja Schiffers1, Katja Tielbörger, Britta Tietjen

  • 1University of Potsdam, Maulbeerallee 2, 14469 Potsdam, Germany. katja.schiffers@daad-alumni.de

Ecology
|May 26, 2011
PubMed
Summary

Plant root plasticity helps reduce competition by altering root growth, a factor often overlooked in studies. This research models how this plastic sphere of influence (PSI) affects plant interactions based on density and spatial distribution.

More Related Videos

An Optimized Rhizobox Protocol to Visualize Root Growth and Responsiveness to Localized Nutrients
07:45

An Optimized Rhizobox Protocol to Visualize Root Growth and Responsiveness to Localized Nutrients

Published on: October 22, 2018

A Simple Protocol for Mapping the Plant Root System Architecture Traits
11:09

A Simple Protocol for Mapping the Plant Root System Architecture Traits

Published on: February 10, 2023

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 1, 2026

Experimental Protocol for Manipulating Plant-induced Soil Heterogeneity
08:16

Experimental Protocol for Manipulating Plant-induced Soil Heterogeneity

Published on: March 13, 2014

An Optimized Rhizobox Protocol to Visualize Root Growth and Responsiveness to Localized Nutrients
07:45

An Optimized Rhizobox Protocol to Visualize Root Growth and Responsiveness to Localized Nutrients

Published on: October 22, 2018

A Simple Protocol for Mapping the Plant Root System Architecture Traits
11:09

A Simple Protocol for Mapping the Plant Root System Architecture Traits

Published on: February 10, 2023

Area of Science:

  • Ecology
  • Plant Biology
  • Mathematical Modeling

Background:

  • Morphological plasticity, particularly root plasticity, is a key plant trait in natural communities.
  • Root plasticity mitigates competition by reducing rhizosphere overlap, yet it's often neglected in interaction studies.
  • Existing models for plant interactions like Zone of Influence (ZOI) and Field of Neighborhood (FON) do not fully account for plasticity.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop a semi-mechanistic model incorporating compensatory growth to quantify the impact of root plasticity on plant interactions.
  • To parameterize the model using field data on nutrient uptake and root distribution.
  • To investigate how plant density and spatial distribution interact with plasticity to influence competition intensity.

Main Methods:

  • Developed a semi-mechanistic model integrating compensatory growth into ZOI and FON frameworks.
  • Conducted a field experiment measuring nutrient analogue uptake at varying distances to neighbors.
  • Used field data to parameterize the model's plastic sphere of influence (PSI) parameters.
  • Analyzed the spatial structure of competition using simulations.

Main Results:

  • Plants exhibit root plasticity, actively avoiding rhizosphere overlap with neighbors.
  • The sphere of influence for *Bromus hordeaceus* followed a unimodal, not a continuously decreasing, function of distance.
  • Competition intensity reduction due to plasticity is significantly influenced by plant density and spatial arrangement.
  • Simulations confirmed the strong dependence of plasticity's competitive effect on the spatial environment.

Conclusions:

  • Morphological plasticity plays a crucial role in modulating plant-plant competition.
  • The spatial structure of plant communities critically affects the outcome of competition when plasticity is considered.
  • Semi-mechanistic models explicitly incorporating plasticity are essential for a deeper understanding of plant interactions.