Ecological implications of plant clonality

Clonal plants dominate many plant communities and play important roles in ecological functions and processes. Understanding the ecological implications of clonal growth requires further examination of the effects of clonal traits under a wide range of environmental conditions. The published results in this Special Issue emphasize the significance of considering clonal characteristics when exploring the responses of plants to various environmental conditions, resource levels and biotic interactions. The articles presented here demonstrate the significance of physiological integration (i.e. capacity for translocation of resources between interconnected ramets of a clone) or fragmentation in both individual- and community-level contexts (e.g. reproductive investment, species composition), and how different biotic and abiotic factors (e.g. mutualism, competition, resource limitation) can lead to changes in clonal growth forms. A modelling approach showed the interplay in stochastic mortality between ramets and genets. This Special Issue offers new insights into the field of clonal plant ecology and is expected to inspire further research in this area, particularly with respect to global change drivers such as disturbances, plant invasions and climate change.