Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

On the evolution of clonal plant life histories

  • Published:
Evolutionary Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Clonal plant life histories are special in at least four respects: (1) Clonal plants can also reproduce vegetatively, (2) vegetative reproduction can be realised with short or long spacers, (3) and it may allow to plastically place vegetative offspring in benign patches. (4) Moreover, ramets of clonal plants may remain physically and physiologically integrated. Because of the apparent utility of such traits and because ecological patterns of distribution of clonal and non-clonal plants differ, adaptation is a tempting explanation of observed clonal life-history variation. However, adaptive evolution requires (1) heritable genetic variation and (2) a trait effect on fitness, and (3) it may be constrained if other evolutionary forces are overriding selection or by constraints, costs and trade-offs. (1) The few studies undertaken so far reported broad-sense heritability for clonal traits. Variation in selectively neutral genetic markers appears as pronounced in populations of clonal as non-clonal plants. However, neutral markers may not reflect heritable variation of life-history traits. Moreover, clonal plants may have been sampled at larger spatial scales. Empirical information on the contribution of somatic mutations to heritable variation is lacking. (2) Clonal life-history traits were found to affect fitness. However, much of this evidence stems from artificial rather than natural environments. (3) The relative importance of gene flow, inbreeding, and genetic drift, compared with selection, in the evolution of clonal life histories is hardly explored. Benefits of clonal life-history traits were frequently studied and found. However, there is also evidence for constraints, trade-offs, and costs. In conclusion, though it is very likely, that clonal life-history traits are adaptive, it is neither clear to which degree this is the case, nor which clonal life-history traits constitute adaptations to which environmental factors. Moreover, evolutionary interactions among clonal life-history traits and between clonal and non-clonal ones, such as the mating system, are not well explored. There remains much interesting work to be done in this field – which will be particularly interesting if it is done in the field.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alpert, P. (1995) Does clonal growth increase plant performance in natural communities? Abstr. Bot. 19, 11-16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alpert, P. (1999) Clonal integration in Fragaria chiloensis differs between populations: ramets from grassland are selfish. Oecologia 120, 69-76.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alpert, P. and Stuefer, J.F. (1997) Division of labour in clonal plants. In H. de Kroon and J. van Groenendael (eds) The Ecology and Evolution of Clonal Plants. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, pp. 137-154.

    Google Scholar 

  • Andrews, J.H. (1998) Bacteria as modular organisms. Ann. Rev. Microbiol. 52, 105-126.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bach, C.E. (2000) Effects of clonal integration on response to sand burial and defoliation by the dune plant Ipomoea pescaprae (Convolvulaceae). Aust. J. Bot. 48,159-166.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bell, A.D. (1984) Dynamic morphology: a contribution to plant population ecology. In R. Dirzo and J. Sarukhan (eds) Perspectives on Plant Population Ecology. Sinauer, Sunderland, pp. 48-65.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradshaw, A.D. (1965) Evolutionary significance of phenotypic plasticity in plants. Adv. Genet. 13, 115-155.

    Google Scholar 

  • Butlin, R.K. and Tregenza, T. (1998) Levels of genetic polymorphism: marker loci vs. quantitative traits. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lon. B 353, 187-198.

    Google Scholar 

  • Byers, D.L. and Waller, D.M. (1999) Do plant populations purge their genetic load? Effects of population size and mating history on inbreeding depression. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 30, 479-513.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cain, M.L. (1994) Consequences of foraging in clonal plant species. Ecology 75, 933-944.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cain, M.L., Dudle, D.A. and Evans, J.P. (1996) Spatial models of foraging in clonal plant species. Am. J. Bot. 83, 76-85.

    Google Scholar 

  • Callaghan, T.V. (1988) Physiological and demographic implications of modular construction in cold environments. In A.J. Davy, M.J. Hutchings and A.R. Watkinson (eds) Plant Population Ecology. Blackwell Scientific, Oxford, pp. 111-135.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caraco, T. and Kelly, C.K. (1991) On the adaptive value of physiological integration in clonal plants. Ecology 72, 81-93.

    Google Scholar 

  • Charlesworth, B. (1992) Evolutionary rates in partially self-fertilizing species. Am. Nat. 140, 126-148.

    Google Scholar 

  • Charpentier A., Grillas, P. and Thompson, J.D. (2000) The effects of population size limitation on fecundity in mosaic populations of the clonal macrophyte Scirpus maritimus (Cyperaceae). Am. J. Bot. 87, 502-507.

    Google Scholar 

  • Charpentier A., Mesleard, F. and Thompson, J.D. (1998) The effects of rhizome severing on the clonal growth and clonal architecture of Scirpus maritimus. Oikos 83, 107-116.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cheplick, G.P. (1995) Genotypic variation and plasticity of clonal growth in relation to nutrient availability in Amphibromus scabrivalvis. J. Ecol. 83, 459-468.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cheplick, G.P. (1997) Responses to severe competitive stress in a clonal plant: differences between genotypes. Oikos 79, 581-591.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cheplick, G.P. and Gutierrez, C.M. (2000) Clonal growth and storage in relation to competition in genets of the rhizomatous perennial Amphibromus scabrivalvis. Can. J. Bot. 78, 537-546.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cook, R.E. (1985) Growth and development in clonal plant populations. In J.B.C. Jackson, L.W. Buss and R.E. Cook (eds) Population Biology and Evolution of Clonal Organisms. Yale University Press, New Haven, pp. 259-296.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Kroon, H. and Hutchings, M.J. (1995) Morphological plasticity in clonal plants: the foraging concept reconsidered. J. Ecol. 83, 143-152.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Kroon, H., Stuefer, J.F., Dong, M. and During, H.J. (1994) On plastic and non-plastic variation in clonal plant morphology and its ecological significance. Folia Geobot. and Phytotax. 29, 123-138.

    Google Scholar 

  • DeWitt, T.J., Sih, A. and Wilson, D.S. (1998) Costs and limits of phenotypic plasticity. Trends Ecol. Evol. 13, 77-81.

    Google Scholar 

  • D'Hertefeldt, T. and van der Putten, W.H. (1998) Physiological integration of the clonal plant Carex arenaria and its response to soil-borne pathogens. Oikos 81, 229-237.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dolch, R. and Tscharntke, T. (2000) Defoliation of alders (Alnus glutinosa) affects herbivory by leaf beetles on undamaged neighbours. Oecologia 125, 504-511.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eckert, C.G. (2000) Contributions of autogamy and geitonogamy to self-fertilization in a mass-flowering, clonal plant. Ecology 81, 532-542.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellstrand, N.C. and Roose, M.L. (1987) Patterns of genotypic diversity in clonal plant species. Am. J. Bot. 74, 123-131.

    Google Scholar 

  • Epstein, E. (1972) Mineral Nutrition of Plants: Principles and Perspectives. John Wiley and Sons, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eriksson, O. (1989) Seedling dynamics and life histories in clonal plants. Oikos 55, 231-238.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eriksson, O. (1997) Clonal life histories and the evolution of seed recruitment. In H. de Kroon and J. van Groenendael (eds) The Ecology and Evolution of Clonal Plants. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, pp. 211-226.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fahrig, L., Coffin, D.P., Lauenroth, W.K., and Shugart, H.H. (1994) The advantage of long-distance clonal spreading in highly disturbed habitats. Evol. Ecol. 8, 172-187.

    Google Scholar 

  • Falconer, D.S. and Mackay, T.F.C. (1996) Introduction to Quantitative Genetics. Longman, Essex.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fischer, M. and Stöcklin, J. (1997) Local extinctions of plants in remnants of extensively used calcareous grasslands 1950–1985. Cons. Biol. 11, 727-737.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fischer, M., Husi, R., Prati, D., Peintinger, M., van Kleunen, M. and Schmid, B. (2000) RAPD variation among and within small and large populations of the rare clonal plant Ranunculus reptans (Ranunculaceae). Am. J. Bot. 87, 1128-1137.

    Google Scholar 

  • Friedman, D. and Alpert, P. (1991) Reciprocal transport between ramets increases growth of Fragaria chiloensis when light and nitrogen occur in separate patches but only if patches are rich. Oecologia 86, 76-80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gardner, S.N. and Mangel, M. (1999) Modeling investments in seeds, clonal offspring, and translocation in a clonal plant. Ecology 80, 1202-1220.

    Google Scholar 

  • Geber, M.A., Watson, M.A. and Furnish, R. (1992) Genetic-differences in clonal demography in Eichhornia-crassipes. J. Ecol. 80, 329-341.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gliddon, C., Belhassen, E., and Gouyon, P.H. (1987) Genetic neighborhoods in plants with diverse systems of mating and different patterns of growth. Heredity 59, 29-32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gliddon, C. and Saleem (1985) The adaptive significance of clonal reproduction in angiosperms -- an aquatic perspective. Aqua. Bot. 44, 159-180.

    Google Scholar 

  • Handel, S.N. (1985) The intrusion of clonal growth-patterns on plant-breeding systems. Am. Nat. 125, 367-384.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harada, Y., Kawano, S. and Iwasa, Y. (1997) Clonal identity probability: inferring the relative success of sexual vs. clonal reproduction from spatial genetic patterns. J. Ecol. 85, 591-600.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harper, J.L. (1981) The concept of populations in modular organisms. In R.M. May (ed.) Theoretical Ecology: Principles and Applications. Blackwell Scientific, Oxford, pp. 53-77.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartl, D.L. and Clark, A.G. (1994) Principles of Population Genetics. Sinauer, Sunderland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holler, L.C. and Abrahamson, W.G. (1977) Seed and vegetative reproduction in relation to density in Fragaria virginiana (Rosaceae). Am. J. Bot. 64, 1003-1007.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huber, H. and Wiggerman, L. (1997) Shade avoidance in the clonal herb Trifolium fragiferum: a field study with experimentally manipulated vegetation height. Plant Ecol. 130, 53-62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Humphrey, L.D. and Pyke, D.A. (1997) Clonal foraging in perennial wheatgrasses: a strategy for exploiting patchy soil nutrients. J. Ecol. 85, 601-610.

    Google Scholar 

  • Humphrey, L.D. and Pyke, D.A. (1998) Demographic and growth responses of a guerrilla and a phalanx perennial grass in competitive mixtures. J. Ecol. 86, 854-865.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hutchings, M.J. and de Kroon, H. (1994) Foraging in plants: the role of morphological plasticity in resource acquisition. Adv. Ecol. Res. 25, 159-238.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hutchings, M.J. and Wijesinghe, D.K. (1997) Patchy habitats, division of labour and growth dividends in clonal plants. Trends Ecol. Evol. 12, 390-394.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jonsdottir, I.S. and Watson, M.A. (1997) Extensive physiological integration: an adaptive trait in resource-poor environments? In H. de Kroon and J. van Groenendael (eds) The Ecology and Evolution of Clonal Plants. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, pp. 109-136.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jordan, N. (1991) Multivariate analysis of selection in experimental populations of two ecotypes of the annual plant Diodia teres W. (Rubiaceae). Evolution 45: 1760-1772.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keller, L. (1999) Levels of Selection in Evolution. Princeton University Press, Princeton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klekowski, E.J. (1997) Somatic mutation theory of clonality. In H. de Kroon and J. van Groenendael (eds) The Ecology and Evolution of Clonal Plants. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, pp. 227-241.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klimes, L., Klimesová, J., Hendriks, R. and van Groenendael, J. (1997) Clonal plant architecture: a comparative analysis of form and function. In H. de Kroon and J. van Groenendael (eds) The Ecology and Evolution of Clonal Plants. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, pp. 1-30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lande, R. and Arnold, S.J. (1983) The measurement of selection on correlated characters. Evolution 37, 1210-1226.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lechowicz, M.J. and Bell, G. (1991) The ecology and genetics of fitness in forest plants. 2. Microspatial heterogeneity of the edaphic environment. J. Ecol. 79, 687-696.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lovett Doust, L. (1981) Population dynamics and local specialization in a clonal perennial (Ranunculus repens). I. The dynamics of ramets in contrasting habitats. J. Ecol. 69, 743-755.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lovett Doust, L. and Lovett Doust, J. (1982) The battle strategies of plants. New Sci. 8, 81-84.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lynch M. (1999) Estimating genetic correlations in natural populations. Gen. Res. 74, 255-264.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lynch, M. and Walsh, B. (1998) Genetics and Analysis of Quantitative Traits. Sinauer, Sunderland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mazer, S.J. (1998) Alternative approaches to the analysis of comparative data: compare and contrast. Am. J. Bot. 85, 1194-1199.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCrea, K.D. and Abrahamson, W.G. 1985. Evolutionary impacts of the goldenrod ball gall-maker on Solidago altissima clones. Oecologia 68, 20-22.

    Google Scholar 

  • McLellan, A.J., Prati, D., Kaltz, O. and Schmid, B. (1997) Structure and analysis of phenotypic and genetic variation in clonal plants. In H. de Kroon and J. van Groenendael (eds) The Ecology and Evolution of Clonal Plants. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, pp. 185-210.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitton, J.B. and Grant, M.C. (1996) Genetic variation and the natural history of quaking aspen. Bioscience 46, 25-31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mousseau, T.A. and Roff, D.A. (1987) Natural selection and the heritability of fitness components. Heredity 59, 181-197.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muirhead C.A. and Lande, R. (1997) Inbreeding depression under joint selfing, outcrossing, and asexuality. Evolution 51, 1409-1415.

    Google Scholar 

  • Niklas, K.J. (1988) Biophysical limitations on plant form and evolution. In L.D. Gottlieb and S.K. Jain (eds) Plant Evolutionary Ecology. Chapman and Hall, London, pp. 185-220.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oborny, B. (1994) Growth rules in clonal plants and environmental predictability -- a simulation study. J. Ecol. 82, 341-351.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oborny B., Kun, A., Czaran, T. and Bokros, S. (2000) The effect of clonal integration on plant competition for mosaic habitat space. Ecology 81, 3291-3304.

    Google Scholar 

  • Orive, M.E. (1993) Effective population size in organisms with complex life histories. Theor. Popul. Biol. 44, 316-340.

    Google Scholar 

  • Orive, M.E. (2001) Somatic mutations in organisms with complex life histories. Theor. Popul. Biol. 59, 235-249.

    Google Scholar 

  • Otto, S.P. and Orive, M.E. (1995) Evolutionary consequences of mutation and selection within an individual. Genetics 141, 1173-1187.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ouborg, N.J., Piquot, Y. and van Groenendael, J.M. (1999) Population genetics, molecular markers and the study of dispersal in plants. J. Ecol. 87, 551-568.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pennings, S.C. and Callaway, R.M. (2000) The advantages of clonal integration under different ecological conditions: A community-wide test. Ecology 81, 709-716.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pineda-Krch, M. (2001) Evolution in multicellular mitotic lineages. PhD Thesis, University of Lund.

  • Piqueras, J. (1999) Infection of Trientalis europaea by the systemic smut fungus Urocystis trientalis: disease incidence, transmission and effects on performance of host ramets. J. Ecol. 87, 995-1004.

    Google Scholar 

  • Piquot, Y., Petit, D., Valero, M., Cuguen, J., de Laguerie, P. and Vernet, P. (1998) Variation in sexual and asexual reproduction among young and old populations of the perennial macrophyte Sparganium erectum. Oikos 82, 139-148.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pitelka, L.F. and Ashmun, J.W. (1985) Physiology and integration of ramets in clonal plants. In J.B.C. Jackson, L.W. Buss and R.E. Cook (eds) Population Biology and Evolution of Clonal Organisms. Yale University Press, New Haven, pp. 399-435.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prati, D. (1998) The genetics and life-history evolution of the clonal plant Ranunculus reptans. PhD Thesis, University of Zürich.

  • Prati, D. and Schmid, B. (2000) Genetic differentiation of life-history traits within populations of the clonal plant Ranunculus reptans. Oikos 90, 442-456.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rausher, M.D. (1992) The measurement of selection on quantitative traits: biases due to environmental covariances between traits and fitness. Evolution 46, 616-626.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ritland, K. (2000) Detecting inheritance with inferred relatedness in nature. In T.A. Mousseau, B. Sinervo and J. Endler (eds) Adaptive Genetic Variation in the Wild. Oxford University Press, New York, pp. 187-199.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roff, D.A. and Simon, A.M. (1997) The quantitative genetics of wing dimorphism under laboratory and ‘field’ conditions in the cricket Gryllus pennsylvanicus. Heredity 78, 235-240.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sackville Hamilton, N.R., Schmid, B. and Harper, J.L. (1987) Life-history concepts and the population biology of clonal organisms. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. 232, 35-57.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saikkonen, K., Koivunen, S., Vuorisalo, T. and Mutikainen, P. (1998) Interactive effects of pollination and heavy metals on resource allocation in Potentilla anserina L. Ecology 79, 1620-1629.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salzman, A.G. and Parker, M.A. (1985) Neighbors ameliorate local salinity stress for a rhizomatous plant in a heterogeneous environment. Oecologia 65, 273-277.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schaffer, R., Landgraf, J., Perez-Amador, M. and Wisman, E. (2000) Monitoring genome-wide expression in plants. Curr. Opin. Biotech. 11, 162-167.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scheiner, S.M. (1993) Genetics and evolution of phenotypic plasticity. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 24, 35-68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scheiner, S.M. and Lyman, R.F. (1991) The genetics of phenotypic plasticity. II. Response to selection. J. Evol. Biol. 4, 23-50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schena, M., Shalon, D., Davis, R.W. and Brown, P.O. (1995) Quantitative monitoring of gene expression patterns with a complementary DNA microarray. Science 270, 467-470.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schenk, P.M., Kazan, K., Wilson, I., Anderson, J.P., Richmond, T., Somerville, S.C. and Manners, J.M. (2000) Coordinated plant defense responses in Arabidopsis revealed by microarray analysis. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 97, 11655-11660.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schläpfer, F. and Fischer, M. (1998) An isozyme study of clone diversity and relative importance of sexual and vegetative reproduction in the grass Brachypodium pinnatum. Ecography 21, 351-360.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schlichting, C.D. and Pigliucci, M. (1998) Phenotypic Evolution: A Reaction Norm Perspective. Sinauer, Sunderland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmid, B. (1985) Clonal growth in grassland perennials III. Genetic variation and plasticity between and within populations of Bellis perennis and Prunella vulgaris. J. Ecol. 73, 819-830.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmid, B. (1990) Some ecological and evolutionary consequences of modular organization and clonal growth in plants. Evol. Trends Plants 4, 25-34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmid, B. and Bazzaz, F.A. (1990) Plasticity in plant size and architecture in rhizome-derived vs. seed-derived Solidago and Aster. Ecology 71, 523-535.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmid, B. and Bazzaz, F.A. (1991) Growth of transplanted and native shoots in perennials with contrasting genet architecture. Flora 185, 335-344.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmid, B. and Harper, J.L. (1985) Clonal growth in grassland perennials. II. Growth form and fine-scale colonization ability. J. Ecol. 73, 809-818.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmid, B. and Weiner, J. (1993) Plastic relationships between reproductive and vegetative mass in Solidago altissima. Evolution 47, 61-74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmid, B., Puttick, G.M., Burgess, K.H. and Bazzaz, F.A. (1988) Clonal integration and effects of simulated herbivory in old-field perennials. Oecologia 75, 465-471.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmitt, J., Dudley, S.A. and Pigliucci, M. (1999) Manipulative approaches to testing adaptive plasticity: phytochrome-mediated shade-avoidance responses in plants. Am. Nat. 154, S43-S54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seskar, M., Shulaev, V., and Raskin, I. (1998) Endogenous methyl salicylate in pathogen-inoculated tobacco plants. Plant Physiol. 116, 387-392.

    Google Scholar 

  • Silander, J.A. (1985) Microevolution in clonal plants. In J.B.C. Jackson, L.W. Buss and R.E. Cook (eds) Population Biology and Evolution of Clonal Organisms. Yale University Press, New Haven, pp. 107-152.

    Google Scholar 

  • Skalova, H., Krahulec, F., During, H.J., Hadincova, V., Pechackova, S., and Herben, T. (1999) Grassland canopy composition and spatial heterogeneity in the light quality. Plant Ecol. 143, 129-139.

    Google Scholar 

  • Skálová, H., Pechácková, S., Suzuki, J., Herben, T., Hara, T., Hadincová, V. and Krahulec, F. (1997) Within population genetic differentiation in traits affecting clonal growth: Festuca rubra in a mountain grassland. J. Evol. Biol. 10, 383-406.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stearns, S.C. (1992) The evolution of life-histories. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stehlik, I. and Holderegger, R. (2000) Spatial genetic structure and clonal diversity of Anemone nemorosa in late successional deciduous woodlands of Central Europe. J. Ecol. 88, 424-435.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stöcklin, J. (1992) Environment, morphology and growth of clonal plants -- an overview. Bot. Helv. 102, 3-21 (in German).

    Google Scholar 

  • Stöcklin, J. and Favre, P. (1999) Differences in life history traits of related Epilobium species. Clonality, seed size and seed number. Folia Geobot. 34, 7-18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stuefer, J.F., During, H.J. and de Kroon, H. (1994) High benefits of clonal integration in two stoloniferous species, in response to heterogeneous light environment. J. Ecol. 82, 511-518.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sutherland, W.J. and Stillman, R.A. (1988) The foraging tactics of plants. Oikos 52, 239-244.

    Google Scholar 

  • Takhtajan, A.L. (1980) Outline of the classification of flowering plants (Magnoliophyta). Bot. Rev. 46, 225-359.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tiffney, B.H. and Niklas, K.J. (1985) Clonal growth in land plants, a paleobotanical perspective. In J.B.C. Jackson, L.W. Buss and R.E. Cook (eds) Population Biology and Evolution of Clonal Organisms. Yale University Press, New Haven, pp. 35-66.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tuomi, J. and Vuarisalo, T. (1989) What are the units of selection in modular organisms. Oikos 54, 227-233.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Baalen, J., Ernst, W.H.O., van Andel, J., Janssen, D.W. and Nelissen, H.J.M. (1990) Reproductive allocation in plants of Scrophularia nodosa grown at various levels of irradiance and soil fertility. Acta Bot. Neerl. 39, 183-196.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Groenendael, J.M., Klimes, L., Klimesová, J. and Hendriks, F.J.J. (1996) Comparative ecology of clonal plants. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B 351, 1331-1339.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Kleunen, M. and Fischer, M. (2001) Adaptive evolution of plastic foraging responses in a clonal plant. Ecology 82, 3309-3319.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Kleunen, M. and Stuefer, J.F. (1999) Quantifying the effects of reciprocal assimilate and water translocation in a clonal plant by the use of steam-girdling. Oikos 85, 135-145.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Kleunen, M., Fischer, M. and Schmid, B. (2000a) Costs of plasticity in foraging characteristics of the clonal Ranunculus reptans. Evolution 54, 1947-1955.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Kleunen, M., Fischer, M. and Schmid, B. (2000b). Clonal integration in Ranunculus reptans: by-product or adaptation? J. Evol. Biol. 13, 237-248.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Tienderen, P.H. (1992) Variation in a population of Plantago lanceolata along a topographical gradient. Oikos 64, 560-572.

    Google Scholar 

  • Via, S. (1993) Adaptive phenotypic plasticity -- target or by-product of selection in a variable environment. Am. Nat. 142, 352-365.

    Google Scholar 

  • Watson, M.A. and Casper, B.B. (1984) Morphogenetic constraints on patterns of carbon distribution in plants. An. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 15, 233-258.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wenström, A. and Ericson, L. (1992) Environmental heterogeneity and disease transmission within clones of Lactuca sibirica. J. Ecol. 80, 71-77.

    Google Scholar 

  • Widén, B., Cronberg, N. and Widén, M. (1994) Genotypic diversity, molecular markers and spatial distribution of genets in clonal plants, a literature survey. Folia Geobot. Phytotax. 29, 245-263.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilhalm, T. (1995) A comparative study of clonal fragmentation in tussock-forming grasses. Abstr. Bot. 19, 51-60.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, G.C. (1975) Sex and Evolution. Princeton University Press, New Jersey.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winkler, E. and Fischer, M. (1999) Two fitness measures for clonal plants and the importance of spatial aspects. Plant Ecol. 141, 191-199.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winkler, E. and Schmid, B. (1995) Clonal strategies of herbaceous plant species: a simulation study on population growth and competition. Abstr. Bot. 19, 17-28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winkler, E., Fischer, M. and Schmid, B. (1999) Modelling the competitiveness of clonal plants by complementary analytical and simulation approaches. Oikos 85, 217-233.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolf, A.T., Howe, R.W. and Hamrick, J.L. (2000) Genetic diversity and population structure of the serpentine endemic Calystegia collina (Convolvulaceae) in northern California. Am. J. Bot. 87, 1138-1146.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Umweltwissenschaften, University of Zürich, Winterthurerstr. 190, CH-8057, Zürich, Switzerland

    Markus Fischer

  2. Institut für Umweltwissenschaften, University of Zürich, Winterthurerstr. 190, CH-8057, Zürich, Switzerland

    Mark Van Kleunen

Authors
  1. Markus Fischer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mark Van Kleunen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Fischer, M., Van Kleunen, M. On the evolution of clonal plant life histories. Evolutionary Ecology 15, 565–582 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016013721469

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016013721469

Search

Navigation