Clonal integration influences on life-history traits of Eicchornia crassipes (Mart.) Sölms. (Pontederiaceae)

Abstract

This work aimed to examine how clonality, specifically clonal integration, influences the life history traits of Eicchornia crassipes (Mart.) Sölms. We developed greenhouse experiments in order to comprehend the relationship between floral traits, intra-individual variation on floral traits and patterns of biomass allocation with the maintenance between ramets generated by asexual reproduction and mother ramets. We collected adult individuals on Represa do Funil, Ijaci, and used their second asexual offspring generation to carry out the experiments. Individuals were daily observed during three months, and floral traits were sampled. At the end of the experiment plants were taken to the laboratory, where they were separated into parts (stems, leaf blades, petioles and roots), dried, and weighed. We found that clonal ramets exhibited larger and more robust flowers. In addition, the floral traits were less variable, on the intra-individual level, on clonal ramets than on isolated ones, indicating that clonal integration guarantee the transport of resources from mother to daughter ramets in cases of low environmental availability. These results lead us to the conclusion that clonality plays a central role on water hyacinth life history, ensuring an increase on sexual reproduction investment and is possibly linked to a viable production of propagules in different environmental conditions.