Incorporating clonality into the plant ecology research agenda

A longstanding research divide exists in plant ecology: either focusing on plant clonality, with no ambition to address nonclonal plants, or focusing on all plants, ignoring that many ecological processes can be affected by the fact that some plants are clonal while others are not. This gap cascades into a lack of distinction and knowledge about the similarities and differences between clonal and nonclonal plants. Here we aim to bridge this gap by identifying areas that would benefit from the incorporation of clonal growth into one integrated research platform: namely, response to productivity and disturbance, biotic interactions, and population dynamics. We are convinced that this will provide a roadmap to gain valuable insights into the ecoevolutionary dynamics relevant to all plants.

Automated summary

There is a longstanding research divide in plant ecology, either focusing solely on plant clonality or all plants which affects the understanding of ecological processes. By incorporating clonal growth into research, valuable insights can be gained in areas such as response to productivity and disturbance, biotic interactions, and population dynamics. This integration is believed to provide a roadmap for gaining valuable insights into ecoevolutionary dynamics relevant to all plants.