Ecology And Evolutionary Biology Of Clonal Plants

Spontaneous self-cloning or clonality is a widespread phenomenon in the plant kingdom, and has a wide array of ecological and evolutionary implications. This volume is the outcome of an international workshop on clonal plant biology aimed at illustrating current progress and recent developments in the scientific study of clonality in plants. The first section of this book includes a collection of original research articles which demonstrate the wide variety of approaches and scientific challenges linked to clonality in plants. The topics covered in this section include ecological and evolutionary implications of sexual versus asexual propagation, including life-history evolution and sex-ratio dynamics, the importance of internal resource transport and remobilization of storage products for the invasiveness and competitiveness of clonal plants, a survey of clonal growth forms in grassland communities, and studies on the interactions between clonal plants and animals and fungi. The approaches used range from experimental studies on a broad variety of systems to mathematical modeling of clonal growth and its consequences. The second part features discussion and review papers on a diverse array of subjects, ranging from developmental considerations of clonality, principles of selection and evolution in clonal plants, a survey of clonality in algae, to potential implications of clonality for plant mating, and beyond. This part of the volume aims at presenting novel ideas and hypotheses, and at summarizing existing knowledge in previously under-researched areas, thereby providing directions for future research initiatives. This book captures ongoing cutting-edge research in the field of clonal plant ecology and evolution. It is directed to anyone from the undergraduate to specialist level who is interested in the biology of the intriguing phenomenon of asexual propagation in plants.

Clonales Wachstum, Evolution und Systematik, Ökologie.

There are few more active frontiers in plant science than helping understand and predict the ecological consequences of on-going, global changes in climate, land use and cover, nutrient cycling, and acidity. This collection of research papers and reviews focuses on how these changes are likely to interact with two important factors, clonal growth in plants and the introduction of species into new regions by humans, to reshape the ecology of our world. Clonal growth is vegetative reproduction in which offspring remain attached to the parent at least until establishment. Clonal growth is associated with the invasiveness of introduced species, their tendency to spread after introduction and negatively affect other species. Will changes in climate, land cover, or nutrients further increase biological invasions by introduced, clonal plants? The articles in this book seek to address this question with new research and theory on clonal growth and its interactions with invasiveness and other components of global change.

This completely revised, fourth edition of Introduction to PlantPopulation Biology continues the approach taken by its highlysuccessful predecessors. Ecological and genetic principles areintroduced and theory is made accessible by clear, accurateexposition with plentiful examples. Models and theoreticalarguments are developed gradually, requiring a minimum ofmathematics. The book emphasizes the particular characteristics of plantsthat affect their population biology, and evolutionary questionsthat are particularly relevant for plants. Wherever appropriate, itis shown how ecology and genetics interact, presenting a roundedpicture of the population biology of plants. Topics covered include variation and its inheritance, geneticmarkers including molecular markers, plant breeding systems,ecological genetics, intraspecific interactions, populationdynamics, regional dynamics and metapopulations, competition andcoexistence, and the evolution of breeding systems and lifehistory. An extensive bibliography provides access to the recentliterature that will be invaluable to students and academicsalike. Effective integration of plant population ecology, populationgenetics and evolutionary biology. The new edition is thoroughly revised and now includesmolecular techniques. The genetics chapters have been completely rewritten by a newco-author, Deborah Charlesworth.

"The lack of discussion of the life histories of modular organisms is the weakness of this book that I most regret. . . . Modular organisms are different. " S. C. Steams: The Evolution of Life Histories (1992) Life-history theory endeavours to increase our understanding of the processe,s whereby the broad features of the life cycles of organisms, such as the timing and magnitude of reproduction, have evolved. Although reproductive traits have dominated as study objects due to their immediate importance for evolutionary success, much work has also been conducted on patterns of development, growth and senescence, as well as on the shifts in resource allocation related to these processes. The basic axiom of life-history theory is that patterns of life histories, such as reproductive traits, are subject to evolutionary explanation. This idea can be traced back at least as far as Darwin's Origin of Species (1859). In his discussion of plant domestication, Darwin wrote: "I cannot doubt that the continued selection of slight variations, either in the leaves, the flowers, or the fruit, will produce races differing from each other chiefly in these characters". Darwin was impressed by the success of plant breeders in moulding the growth and reproductive parameters of cultivated plants, and believed that natural selection could have a similar impact in natural populations.