Demographic consequences of greater clonal than sexual reproduction in Dicentra canadensis.

ABSTRACT: Clonality is a widespread life history trait in flowering plants that may be essential for population persistence, especially in environments where sexual reproduction is unpredictable. Frequent clonal reproduction, however, could hinder sexual reproduction by spatially aggregating ramets that compete with seedlings and reduce inter-genet pollination. Nevertheless, the role of clonality in relation to variable sexual reproduction in population dynamics is often overlooked. We combined population matrix models and pollination experiments to compare the demographic contributions of clonal and sexual reproduction in three Dicentra canadensis populations, one in a well-forested landscape and two in isolated forest remnants. We constructed stage-based transition matrices from 3 years of census

SUBMITTER: Lin CH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4867665 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature