The Anthropocene, with the ongoing global changes in climate, land use, acidity, and content of toxins, represents the greatest recent challenges for plants. Clonal plants mainly reproduce vegetatively/asexually, and offspring remain attached to the parent at least until establishment. Despite limited gene recombination and genetic diversity, clonal plants are widely distributed and play significant roles in various ecosystems worldwide. Clonal traits, such as resource sharing and signaling between connected ramets, selective positioning of ramets, reallocation of stored energy/nutrients between connected ramets, initiation of meristem banks in response to clonal integration, and trade-offs between clonal and sexual reproduction, might help clonal plants adapt to different environmental conditions. The expression, fitness effects, and evolution of clonal traits can be influenced by environmental changes, which can be efficiently inherited and affects offspring performance, i.e., clonal parental effect. These adaptations may contribute to the survival, competition, invasiveness, and spread of clonal species in response to global climate change in the Anthropocene, from individuals to ecosystems.
Understanding the capacity of clonal species to survive and adjust to changing environments is requisite but limited. Specifically, the unique traits of clonal plants have been underestimated, and their contribution to population, community, and ecosystem dynamics is unclear. The roles of clonality in ecosystem functioning (e.g., carbon storage, carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus cycling, water and soil conservation, and water purification) need to be further explored. The contribution of clonal growth in plant invasiveness and community invisibility also needs to be addressed. Hence, there is an urgent need for more in-depth studies investigating the adaptation and evolution, mechanisms, functioning, and approaches of plant clonality to global change and invasiveness at different levels.
This Research Topic is devoted, but not limited to, the following areas:
• Adaptation and evolution of clonality to global change: clonal parental effect and epigenetic mechanism; clonality and other plant functional traits; ecogenomics and potential impacts.
• Mechanisms of clonal plant responses to global change: growth, competitive, or reproductive strategies; clonal growth in response to abiotic, biotic, and multiple global change factors or stresses.
• Roles of clonality in plant invasiveness: clonality, invasiveness, and community invisibility in long-term response of population, community, and ecosystem dynamics to global change.
• Roles of clonal growth in ecosystem service and functioning, such as carbon storage and sink, carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus cycling, water and soil conservation, water purification, carbon neutrality, etc.
• Clonality in ecosystems and landscapes: roles of clonal plants in different ecosystems, such as forests, wetlands, grasslands, and coasts.
• Development of monitoring techniques and management strategies for clonal plants: evaluation and prediction of clonal plant spread patterns in future global changes through multi-scale methods, such as GIS, RS, UAV, and other models.
• Interdisciplinary research of clonality and biogeographic evolution, new materials and energy, and so on.
Manuscripts that do not explicitly focus on these areas but do advance understanding of aspects of clonality under global change will also be considered. The scope can be different ecosystems, field studies, laboratory experiments, etc. Original research papers, reviews, and forums are welcome. All manuscripts will be peer-reviewed.
The Anthropocene, with the ongoing global changes in climate, land use, acidity, and content of toxins, represents the greatest recent challenges for plants. Clonal plants mainly reproduce vegetatively/asexually, and offspring remain attached to the parent at least until establishment. Despite limited gene recombination and genetic diversity, clonal plants are widely distributed and play significant roles in various ecosystems worldwide. Clonal traits, such as resource sharing and signaling between connected ramets, selective positioning of ramets, reallocation of stored energy/nutrients between connected ramets, initiation of meristem banks in response to clonal integration, and trade-offs between clonal and sexual reproduction, might help clonal plants adapt to different environmental conditions. The expression, fitness effects, and evolution of clonal traits can be influenced by environmental changes, which can be efficiently inherited and affects offspring performance, i.e., clonal parental effect. These adaptations may contribute to the survival, competition, invasiveness, and spread of clonal species in response to global climate change in the Anthropocene, from individuals to ecosystems.
Understanding the capacity of clonal species to survive and adjust to changing environments is requisite but limited. Specifically, the unique traits of clonal plants have been underestimated, and their contribution to population, community, and ecosystem dynamics is unclear. The roles of clonality in ecosystem functioning (e.g., carbon storage, carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus cycling, water and soil conservation, and water purification) need to be further explored. The contribution of clonal growth in plant invasiveness and community invisibility also needs to be addressed. Hence, there is an urgent need for more in-depth studies investigating the adaptation and evolution, mechanisms, functioning, and approaches of plant clonality to global change and invasiveness at different levels.
This Research Topic is devoted, but not limited to, the following areas:
• Adaptation and evolution of clonality to global change: clonal parental effect and epigenetic mechanism; clonality and other plant functional traits; ecogenomics and potential impacts.
• Mechanisms of clonal plant responses to global change: growth, competitive, or reproductive strategies; clonal growth in response to abiotic, biotic, and multiple global change factors or stresses.
• Roles of clonality in plant invasiveness: clonality, invasiveness, and community invisibility in long-term response of population, community, and ecosystem dynamics to global change.
• Roles of clonal growth in ecosystem service and functioning, such as carbon storage and sink, carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus cycling, water and soil conservation, water purification, carbon neutrality, etc.
• Clonality in ecosystems and landscapes: roles of clonal plants in different ecosystems, such as forests, wetlands, grasslands, and coasts.
• Development of monitoring techniques and management strategies for clonal plants: evaluation and prediction of clonal plant spread patterns in future global changes through multi-scale methods, such as GIS, RS, UAV, and other models.
• Interdisciplinary research of clonality and biogeographic evolution, new materials and energy, and so on.
Manuscripts that do not explicitly focus on these areas but do advance understanding of aspects of clonality under global change will also be considered. The scope can be different ecosystems, field studies, laboratory experiments, etc. Original research papers, reviews, and forums are welcome. All manuscripts will be peer-reviewed.
