D3.1. Report on population network structure obtained from computer simulations
| by Tomas Sintes |
| Output type: other |
The purpose of this deliverable is twofold: i) Develop a numerical model to study the space occupation and growth of clonal plants (i.e. seagrasses) and the spatial distribution of genets with the plant size and age, and ii) Compare with observed field measurements of the clonal diversity in P oceanica and Z marina species analysing the effect of the different sampling procedures and a limited sampling size.
A new two-dimensional off-lattice numerical model, based on known non-equilibrium growth processes in the context of condensed matter physics, is introduced in order to simulate the space colonization of clonal plants. The growth is controlled by a reduced set of key parameters, such as, the rhizome elongation rate, the average distance between consecutive units, the lateral branching probability and its characteristic branching angle and, finally, the shoot mortality rate. In addition, a clonal diversity probability factor is introduced in the model to study the genetic variability and the spatial distribution of genets. This probability will act as an effective quantity that resumes the sexual and asexual reproduction ratios as well as the mutation processes that take place during the meristematic cell division.
