Data from: Helophyte Glyceria spiculosa adapts to environmental changes by adjusting bud bank dynamics

Exploring plant adaptation strategies under habitat variations from the perspective of bud banks is essential for understanding vegetation regeneration under global changes. To date, less attention has been paid to how bud banks respond to environmental changes. In this study, Glyceria spiculosa was selected as the subject. Field bud bank surveys were conducted in three vegetation zones: wet meadow, tussock marsh, and marsh. A pot experiment containing three flooding periods (no flooding, flooding for 1-5 weeks, and flooding for 6-10 weeks), four nitrogen levels (1, 10, 30, and 100 mg/L), and two nitrogen forms (ammonium nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen) was carried out to further investigate the relationship between bud banks and environmental factors. Rhizome internode buds dominated in the natural vegetation zone, with their density peaking in the marsh zone and minimizing in the tussock marsh zone. Soil nutrients and water depth impacted tiller bud density. Tiller bud density was highest in pot experiment. Both ammonium nitrogen and elevated nitrogen levels promoted bud bank densities, and ammonium nitrogen further enhanced the tiller bud density increase induced by higher nitrogen levels. Nitrogen level was the primary factor influencing total, tiller, and rhizome internode bud densities, whereas flooding period was the most crucial determinant of rhizome apical bud density. Our results reveal that the adjustment of bud bank type and density is a crucial strategy for plants to adapt to environmental changes, emphasizing the significance of nutrient and water variations in shaping plant reproductive strategies and adaptive capacity.

The data included different types of bud bank density, soil and water nutrient data from field investigation, corresponding different types of bud bank density and initial plant height extracted from pot experiment.

Variables

site: site

plot: plot

quadrat: quadrat

wetland.type: wetland type

Tzongya: density of the total buds

Tfennieya: density of the tiller buds (buds growing vertically upward from the base of the plant)

Tgenjingjieya: density of the rhizome internode buds (buds located on the rhizome internodes)

Tgenjingdingya: density of the rhizome apical buds (buds located at the tip of the rhizome)

WTN: water total nitrogen

WTP: water total phosphorus

WNO3: water nitrate nitrogen

WNH4: water ammonium nitrogen

STN: soil total nitrogen

STP: soil  total phosphorus

SNO3-N: soil nitrate nitrogen

SNH4-N: soil ammonium nitrogen

water.depth: water depth

Nform: nitrogen form(AN:ammonium nitrogen; NN:nitrate nitrogen)

Flooding: flooding periods (ck: no flooding throughout; F1: flooding in weeks 1-5, F2: flooding in weeks 6-10)

Nlevel: nitrogen levels (N1:1; N2: 10;N3: 30; N4: 100 mg/L)

zongya: density of the total buds

fennieya: density of the tiller buds (buds growing vertically upward from the base of the plant)

genjingjieya: density of the rhizome internode buds (buds located on the rhizome internodes)

genjingdingya: density of the rhizome apical buds (buds located at the tip of the rhizome)

InitialH: Initial height