The clonal structure of Festuca rubra in adjacent maritime habitats

The clonal structure of Festuca rubra L. was studied in three locations: dune base, dune top and sand ridge, in the beach plain on the Frisian island of Schiermonnikoog by means of electrophoretic analyses. The zymograms of four enzymes of 100 plants sampled 30 cm apart in a 2-7-m square grid in each location were compared. Large differences in clonal structure were found between the three sites. The sand ridge site appeared to be dominated by one clone, whereas the dune base site consisted of at least 35 clones. A site on top of an embryo-dune was intermediate with at least 30 clones. Morphological analyses agreed with these conclusions.