Growth and competitive ability of a highly plastic and a marginally plastic genotype of Plantago major in a fluctuating environment

The hypothesis was tested that a physiologically highly plastic genotype is better adapted to a fluctuating environment than a marginally plastic genotype. For that purpose, two inbred lines of Plantago major L., which differ in their degree of physiological plasticity, were grown in tubes with quartz sand, either singly or in combination. Four treatments were applied with a different frequency of fluctuations in nutrient level. When grown singly, the relative growth rate of both genotypes reacted in the same way to the different treatments. The genotypes showed similar reactions when grown in monoculture with two plants per tube. In mixed culture (also two plants per tube) the response was different. With increasing frequency of fluctuations in nutrient level, the inbred line with the high plasticity grew faster at the expense of the marginally plastic line, whose growth was reduced.