Project Detail

Plant clonality: an unexplored source of local community diversity and species pool diversification

Name:	Plant clonality: an unexplored source of local community diversity and species pool diversification
Researchers:	Bitomský Martin (member in research team)
Provider:
Number:	GA22-10897S
Realization from:	2022
Realization to:	2024
Summary:	Plant clonality is a widespread plant trait with a number of ecological and evolutionary effects and known response to environmental factors such as productivity and disturbance. Consequently it can play a key role in both ecological and evolutionary components of species diversity, namely (i) local coexistence due to potential functional complementarity of clonal and nonclonal species, and (ii) formation of the species pool as clonal reproduction is likely to affect speciation rates. In spite of that, role of clonal growth in either of these processes has almost never been addressed. In the proposed project we aim to address both these components by database mining, targeted ecological experiments and phylogenetic analyses. By linking these approaches, we will identify not only the role that clonality plays in plant community diversity, but also how both ecological and evolutionary components of community richness can be linked together by a single process with pervasive effects.