Abstract: The essential resources for plant growth could be negatively correlated with each other within the patches. In this paper, the clonal fragments of stolon herb Fragaria vesca from two altitudes (1800 m and 3900 m above sea level) were subjected to reciprocal patchiness of light and soil nutrient resources. The fitness-related traits (biomass and number of ramets) and the plasticity of the species in root/shoot ratio and leaf area were investigated. Our results demonstrated that the biomass and number of ramets in proximal clonal part, distal clonal part, and whole clonal fragment from the two altitudes had a significant increase in the resources heterogeneity treatments (Ⅲ and Ⅳ), compared with in the resources homogeneity treatments (Ⅰand Ⅱ). The proximal ramets in the treatment with low light and high nutrient allocated more biomass to the below-ground as connected to the distal ramets grown in high light and low nutrient than as connected to the distal ramets grown in low light and high nutrient. The proximal ramets in the treatment with high light and low nutrient allocated more biomass to the above-ground as connected to the distal ramets grown in low light and high nutrient than as connected to the distal ramets grown in high light and low nutrient. The similar allocation patterns were observed in the distal ramets. The proximall ramets grown in high light and low nutrient presented larger leaf area as connected to the distal ramets grown in low light and high nutrient than as connected to the distal ramets grown in high light and low nutrient. The similar allocation patterns were observed in the distal ramets. These results suggested that there existed a reciprocal translocation of assimilates and nutrients between the interconnected ramets, while root/shoot ratio and leaf area were plastic, which led to an environmentally induced specialization for uptake of locally abundant resources. Therefore, sharing intraclonal resources was very significant for the survival and growth of clonal plants in heterogeneous habitat.

Key words: Soil temperature, Soil water content, Soil respiration rate, Forest ecosystems in Changbai Mountain