The effects of density, spatial pattern, and competitive symmetry on size variation in simulated plant populations

Patterns of size inequality in crowded plant populations are often taken to be indicative of the degree of size asymmetry of competition, but recent research suggests that some of the patterns attributed to size-asymmetric competition could be due to spatial structure. To investigate the theoretical relationships between plant density, spatial pattern, and competitive size asymmetry in determining size variation in crowded plant populations, we developed a spatially explicit, individual-based plant competition model based on overlapping zones of influence. The zone of influence of each plant is modeled as a circle, growing in two dimensions, and is allometrically related to plant biomass. The area of the circle represents resources potentially available to the plant, and plants compete for resources in areas in which they overlap. The size asymmetry of competition is reflected in the rules for dividing up the overlapping areas. Theoretical plant populations were grown in random and in perfectly uniform spatial patterns at four densities under size-asymmetric and size-symmetric competition. Both spatial pattern and size asymmetry contributed to size variation, but their relative importance varied greatly over density and over time. Early in stand development, spatial pattern was more important than the symmetry of competition in determining the degree of size variation within the population, but after plants grew and competition intensified, the size asymmetry of competition became a much more important source of size variation. Size variability was slightly higher at higher densities when competition was symmetric and plants were distributed nonuniformly in space. In a uniform spatial pattern, size variation increased with density only when competition was size asymmetric. Our results suggest that when competition is size asymmetric and intense, it will be more important in generating size variation than is local variation in density. Our results and the available data are consistent with the hypothesis that high levels of size inequality commonly observed within crowded plant populations are largely due to size-asymmetric competition, not to variation in local density.     

Individual variability and mortality required for constant final yield in simulated plant populations

When plant monocultures are sown over a wide range of densities for a given period of time, the total biomass yield increases with density at low densities and then levels off at high densities, a phenomenon called constant final yield (CFY). There are several reported cases, however, where the total yield decreases at very high densities, but the reasons for such exceptions are not known. We used a spatially explicit, individual-based “field of neighborhood” simulation model to investigate the potential roles of spatial pattern, individual variation, and competitive stress tolerance for CFY. In the model, individual plants compete asymmetrically for light when their fields overlap, and this competition decreases growth and increases mortality. We varied (1) the initial size variation, (2) the spatial pattern, and (3) ability to survive intense competition and examined the effects on the density-biomass relationship. CFY was always observed when there was high variability among individuals, but not always when variability was low. This high size variation could be the result of high initial size variability or variation in the degree of local crowding. For very different reasons, very high and very low tolerance for competition resulted in decreasing total biomass at very high densities. Our results emphasize the importance of individual variation for population processes and suggest that we should look for exceptions to CFY in homogeneous, even-aged, regularly spaced populations such as plantations.     

Growth and competition in clonal plants-persistence of shoot populations and species diversity

This paper reviews studies on growth and size-structure dynamics of shoots and clones in clonal plants in comparison with those in non-clonal plants, and discusses the characteristics of clonal plants. The mode of competition between individuals (symmetric versus asymmetric, degree of competitive asymmetry), growth dynamics of individuals, allocation pattern between organs and spatial pattern of individuals are closely correlated with each other in non-clonal plant populations. Theoretical and field studies based on the diffusion model revealed that plants of “height-growth” type (mostly early-successional tree species) and plants of “diameter-growth” type (mostly late-successional tree species) tend to exhibit asymmetric competition and symmetric competition respectively. Moreover, asymmetrically competing plants show smaller effects of variation in individual growth rate and spatial pattern on the size-structure dynamics of the population than symmetrically competing plants. Thefefore, the spatial pattern of inviduals should be considered especially for plants undergoing symmetric competition. These results for non-clonal plants should have a significant implication also for the growth dynamics and competition in clonal plants. The mean growth rate of shoots [G(t,x) function] and hence the mode of competition between shoots differs among clonal plant species as in non-clonal plants. However, a large magnitude and size-independence (or slightly negative size-dependence) of the variation in growth rate of shoots [D(t,x) function], especially at the early stage in a growing season is a common characteristic of many clonal plant species, in contrast to the positively size-dependent variation in individual growth rate in non-clonal plants. This type of variation in shoot growth rate leads to the persistence of stable shoot populations even when the mean growth rate function is changed, and also in cases where the shoot population structure would be unstable in the absence of variation in growth rate. It is suggested that competition between clones is symmetric in most clonal plant species, which brings about small-scale spatio-temporal changes in species abundance and hence species diversity.     

Modeling the growth of individuals in plant populations: local density variation in a strand population of Xanthium strumarium (Asteraceae)

We studied the growth of individual Xanthium strumarium plants growing at four naturally occurring local densities on a beach in Maine: (1) isolated plants, (2) pairs of plants ≤1 cm apart, (3) four plants within 4 cm of each other, and (4) discrete dense clumps of 10-39 plants. A combination of nondestructive measurements every 2 wk and parallel calibration harvests provided very good estimates of the growth in aboveground biomass of over 400 individual plants over 8 wk and afforded the opportunity to fit explicit growth models to 293 of them. There was large individual variation in growth and resultant size within the population and within all densities. Local crowding played a role in determining plant size within the population: there were significant differences in final size between all densities except pairs and quadruples, which were almost identical. Overall, plants growing at higher densities were more variable in growth and final size than plants growing at lower densities, but this was due to increased variation among groups (greater variation in local density and/or greater environmental heterogeneity), not to increased variation within groups. Thus, there was no evidence of size asymmetric competition in this population. The growth of most plants was close to exponential over the study period, but half the plants were slightly better fit by a sigmoidal (logistic) model. The proportion of plants better fit by the logistic model increased with density and with initial plant size. The use of explicit growth models over several growth intervals to describe stand development can provide more biological content and more statistical power than "growth-size" methods that analyze growth intervals separately.     

Theoretical Relationships Between Mean Plant Size, Size Distribution and Self Thinning under One-sided Competition

As yet there is no comprehensive theory in plant populationecology to explain relationships between mean plant size, sizedistribution and self-thinning. In this paper, a new synthesisof plant monocultures is proposed. If the reciprocal relationshipbetween plant biomass and plant population density among variousstands of even-aged plant populations holds, the same reciprocalrelationship must exist between cumulative mass and cumulativenumber of plants from the largest individual within a population,assuming strict one-sided competition (which is an extreme conditionfor competition for light among plants). The two parametersof the relationship between cumulative mass and cumulative numberwithin a stand both correlate with maximum plant height in thestand. One parameter equals the reciprocal of the potentialmaximum plant mass per area, which is expressed by the productof maximum plant height and dry-matter density. The other parametercorrelates with the potential maximum individual plant mass,which is allometrically related to maximum plant height. Asa stand develops, the growth rate of the smallest individualswill become zero due to suppression from larger individuals,and they will die; i.e. self-thinning will occur. The slopeof the self-thinning line is expressed through the coefficientsof allometry between height and mass and between dry matterdensity and height. When the former coefficient is 3 and thelatter is 0, the gradient exactly corresponds to the value expectedfrom the 3/2 power rule, but it can take various values dependingon the values of the two coefficients. Competition among individualsdetermines size-density relationships among stands, which inturn determine the size structure of the stand. The size structureconstrains the growth of individuals and results in self-thinningwithin the stand.Copyright 1999 Annals of Botany Company. Monoculture, plant population, self-thinning, competition, hierarchy, size-structure.     

Plant size and spatial pattern in a natural population of Myosotis micrantha

Abstract. We examined spatial distributions and plant sizes along a transect through a natural population of a winter annual, Myosotis micrantha. A size hierarchy existed, as indicated by high values of Gini coefficients of inequality for plant mass and correlated measures. Plants with no immediate conspecific neighbors were larger than plants with one or more near neighbors, suggesting that competition from near neighbors depressed plant size. However, there was strong positive spatial autocorrelation in plant size: large plants were associated with large neighbors and small ones with small neighbors. Plant size was also positively correlated with the combined biomass of near neighbors. The population formed a two-phase mosaic of patches of relatively large plants alternating with patches of smaller plants. The data suggest that individual plants compete with conspecifics, but the effects of competition are symmetrical. The most likely explanations for this spatially structured size hierarchy are variation in plant density, patchy distribution of resources, or a combination of the two.     

Effects of competition,herbivory and substrate disturbance on growth and size structure in pin cherry (Prunus pensylvanica L.) seedlings

We examined separate and interactive effects of intraspecific competition, vertebrate browsing and substrate disturbance on the growth and size structure of pin cherry (Prunus pensylvanica L.) in the first two seasons of growth after clearcutting, in a hardwoods forest in New Hampshire, United States. Over the 15-month study period, 97.5% of 1801 individuals survived, and mean plant height increased from 4-fold at high density to 5-fold at low density. Relative height growth was significantly lower at higher plant densities in two of the three growth periods examined. Vertebrate browsers (moose and deer) significantly preferred taller plants. Browsed plants had higher relative height growth following browsing than unbrowsed plants (compensatory growth) at low and intermediate densities. The degree of compensation declined with density and compensation was not significant at the highest density level. At low and intermediate densities, plants browsed early in life regained height dominance through compensatory growth; they failed to regain dominance at high density. Because compensatory growth tended to offset the effects of size-selective browsing, there was no difference in the degree of size inequality between browsed and unbrowsed plots. However, size inequality increased with plant density. Substrate disturbance caused by logging had no significant effects on either relative height growth or size inequality. The slope of the relationship between relative height growth and initial height increased significantly with density and time, and was higher in unbrowsed than in browsed plots, suggesting that competition among plants was size-asymmetric. Despite the preference of browsers for large plants, there was a clear net growth advantage for plants of large initial size, when the effects of competition, browsing and compensatory growth were combined. The interactive effects of density and browsing demonstrate the importance of a multifactorial approach to the analysis of individual plant performance and population structure.     

Neighborhood models of plant population dynamics 3. Models with spatial heterogeneity in the physical environment

Population dynamic models are developed for communities of annual plants in spatially heterogeneous environments. These models are constructed from submodels of the survivorship, fecundity, germination, and dispersal of individual plants. The submodels include the effects of spatially local interactions on plant performance and the spatial variation in performance caused by spatial heterogeneity in the physical environment. It is possible to estimate the submodels from data on experimental communities in either the field or greenhouse and so it is possible to empirically calibrate the population dynamic models developed. Each population dynamic model explicitly includes the spatial distribution of individuals in a plant community.Several two-species models for plants in patchy environments are studied to examine the community-level consequences of spatial heterogeneity in the physical environment. The results fall into two classes. First, community structure is in part determined by a relation between patch size and mean seed dispersal distance. Specifically, coexistence is, in some cases, possible only if patches are sufficiently larger than the mean dispersal distance. Second, community structure is also affected by relations between patch size and the maximum distance over which two plants interact (termed the neighborhood radius). In some cases, coexistence is possible only if patch size is sufficiently larger than the neighborhood radius. In others, the species coexist only if patch size is sufficiently smaller than the neighborhood radius. In still other cases, coexistence is possible only if patch sizes are within critical bounds, where the sizes of the critical bounds are in units of the neighborhood radius. All results involving relations between the neighborhood radius and patch size are direct consequences of the sedentary nature of plants and the fact that individual plants interact primarily with nearby plants.     

An ESS for the Height of a Plant Population, or an Optimal Height for an Individual?—Rethinking Game-Theoretic Models for Plant Height

Plants only interact with neighbors over restricted distances, so local conditions are of great significance for plants. It is therefore important to consider spatial structure and neighborhood effects if we are to understand plants' strategies. We constructed a spatially-explicit, game theory model to explore optimal height growth at the individual-level. In the model, there is no ESS for height growth at the population level, because there is an “instantaneous” optimal height growth strategy for the individual plant that changes depending on the local light environment. The optimal strategy is plasticity in response to local conditions. Game-theoretic models for plant phenotypic traits should move from “mean-field approximations” towards explicit modeling of local interactions.     

Effects of local density on insect visitation and fertilization success in the narrow-endemic Centaurea corymbosa (Asteraceae)

Plant population size and density can influence the interactions between plants and pollinators, and affect plant reproductive success. We investigated the effects of local conspecific density on insect visitation and fertilization success in the rare, cliff-dwelling, self-incompatible Centaurea corymbosa , in which fecundity plays a key role in variation in population growth rate among years and among the six extant populations. Plant size, capitulum size, the abundance of co-flowering species, and the weather conditions were added as covariates in the analyses. Over three populations and two years (1995 and 2002), fertilization rate was positively related to the number of flowering conspecifics within 10 m. Fertilization rate varied among populations, but this variation over all six populations in 2002 could not be attributed to differences in population size. Observations in one population in 2003 showed that there was no difference in insect visitation per capitulum between plants in sparse vs dense patches whilst plants from sparse patches suffered reduced fertilization rate. Visitation and fertilization rates were not affected by plant size and the abundance of co-flowering species, but weather conditions at the time of flowering had a strong effect on both variables. Capitulum size had a positive effect on visitation rate, but an effect on fertilization rate only in 1995 and 2002 and not in 2003. Our results suggest that pollen limitation affects fertilization rate in C. corymbosa due to limited compatible mate availability rather than pollinator limitation. They agree with previous genetic results derived from paternity analysis. Whether or not the benefits of local spatial agregation to reproductive success result in increased individual fitness will depend on the relative reduction in survival of vegetative stages due to intra-specific competition.     

Dynamics of the integral measure of competition in plant communities of different uniformity

The effect of non-monotony of the correlation coefficient between crown projection area and the Voronoi polygon area in 90-year spruce sites in the Moscow Region arranged in ascending order of the variation coefficient of stem diameter is analyzed using the original 2D model of the plant community dynamics. Theoretical integral (over the entire community) indices of competition demonstrating non-monotone competition in relatively uniform communities—the Clements’ index (Clements et al., 1929) and the mean suppression of community plants—were analyzed. Direct computation demonstrated that the correlation coefficient can also be considered as an index of competition, and its dynamics is indeed non-monotone in uniform communities. This finding allows us to roughly evaluate the potential duration of biomass growth for free-growing spruce in the Moscow Region as 1000 years. Due to the limitations of the 2D resource model (nearly “symmetric” competition), certain model characteristics of communities (the variation coefficient and correlation characteristics of neighborhood) differed several times from natural ones although showing the correct trend of changes.     

Plants that differ in height investment can coexist if they are distributing non-uniformly within an area

In nature, there is a large variability in the intrinsic height of plants living within an area. The question arises whether these height differences affect the plants’ ability to coexist and thus is an adaptive trait.Using a biologically mechanistic model, we explored the possibilities for coexistence of plant types that differ in their pattern of allocation between stem (i.e. height growth) and other organs. We simulated the competition for light between growing individual plants. The study was game theoretical in the sense that each individual plant at any time affected the light availability for all plants in a locality, making conditions variable throughout the growing season and between seasons when the composition of competing plants changed.It was found that plant types that differed in their allocation to height growth could coexist over the course of years when these plants distributed their seeds non-uniformly in space, creating local differences in plant density. At each different density, one type with a specific investment in height performed better (i.e. achieved a greater seed production) than the rest of the types, thus preventing the exclusion of that type over the years. The resulting model community was self-assembling; local densities and competitive pressures originated as traits from the model plants themselves and were not the result of imposed external factors acting upon the model community.This mechanistic modelling approach shows that a condition as simple as a non-uniform distribution of seeds can generate the conditions for plants of various height growth strategies to live together over multiple generations. This study suggests that differences in plant height can be an emerging property of dispersing populations.     

Neighborhood interactions in a natural population of the perennial bunchgrassBouteloua gracilis

We analyzed neighborhood interactions in a natural population of the perennial bunchgrass blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis). Space occupation by individual plants was characterized in terms of neighborhood size. Neighborhood size was defined as the area potentially ‘available’ to an individual, which included the basal area of the plant and the bare area closer to the edges of the plant than to any others. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) were used to describe space partitioning. Growing season performance was evaluated as a function of neighborhood area and neighbor size, controlling for focal plant size. The area of the neighborhood was significant in explaining the remaining variation of allometric relationships between basal area and current vegetative and reproductive performance. In contrast, current performance of focal individuals was not related to the average basal area or the sum of basal areas of adjacent neighbors. Growing season performance was apparently affected by plant spacing, suggesting that competition for spatially distributed resources occurs. The presence of relatively small plants in neighborhoods with a high proportion of bare soil is consistent with the view of a community composed of patches undergoing their own successional dynamics. Competition and disturbances seem to play an important role in this semiarid grassland.     

Facilitation can maintain clustered spatial pattern of plant populations during density‐dependent mortality: insights from a zone‐of‐influence model

Recent years have seen a growing body of evidence showing that plant competition and facilitation usually operate simultaneously to drive population dynamics, community structure and ecosystem functions. However, the potential role of facilitation in spatial patterning of plant populations has rarely been explicitly examined. We used a ‘zone‐of‐influence’ model to explore how facilitation interacts with competition and abiotic stress to determine the spatial patterning of populations during density‐dependent mortality. Model simulations revealed that started with the same clustered pattern, the final pattern of simulated populations depended strongly on the interaction among facilitation, stress level and size‐symmetry of competition. Asymmetric competition consistently led to immediate and non‐random mortality towards regularity, thus rapidly decayed the initially clustered pattern to final patterns of small‐scale regularity and large‐scale randomness. The role of symmetric competition in decaying the clustered pattern increased with abiotic stress because stress‐induced reductions in plants’ growth rates can make individuals in high‐density clusters more likely to die even from symmetric competition. Facilitation played a clear role in counteracting the effect of stress, thus tended to maintain the degree of clustering of the pattern during density‐dependent mortality. This is because the amelioration of harsh conditions by neighboring plants relieved the reductions in plant growth due to competition, thus slowed down and reduced the mortality inside clusters (relative to that outside clusters). Moreover, the effect of facilitation appeared to increase with abiotic stress. Our results indicate that facilitation among neighboring plants should partially be responsible for clustered population spatial patterns observed in stressful environments, even though its contribution relative to other factors (e.g. local dispersal and environmental heterogeneity) remains to be evaluated. In addition, the potential influence of facilitation on self‐thinning trajectory should be explicitly examined in future modeling and experimental studies considering its effects on density‐dependent mortality.     

Limited effects of soil nutrient heterogeneity on populations of Abutilon theophrasti (Malvaceae)

An experiment was conducted to determine if spatial nutrient heterogeneity affects mean plant size or size hierarchies in experimental populations of the weedy annual Abutilon theophrasti Medic. (Malvaceae). Heterogeneity was imposed by alternating 8 × 8 × 10 cm blocks of low and high nutrient soil in a checkerboard design, while a homogeneous soil treatment consisted of a spatially uniform mixture of the two soil types (mixed soil). Populations were planted at three densities. The effect of soil type on the growth of individuals was determined through a bioassay experiment using potted plants. The high nutrient, low nutrient, and mixed soil differed in their ability to support plant growth as indicated by differences in growth rates and final aboveground biomass. Concentrations of N, K, P, and Mg, measured at the end of the growing season in the experimental plots, also differed among all three soil types. Nevertheless, nutrient heterogeneity had little effect at the population level. Mean maximum leaf width measured at midseason was greater for populations on heterogeneous soil, but soil treatment did not affect midseason measurements of plant height, total number of leaves per plant, or canopy width. Population density affected all these parameters except plant height. When aboveground biomass was harvested at the end of the growing season, soil treatment was found to have no main effect on mean plant biomass, total population biomass, the coefficient of variation in plant biomass, or the combined biomass of the five largest plants in the population, but mean plant biomass was greater for populations on heterogeneous soils at the intermediate planting density. Mean plant biomass, total population biomass, and the coefficient of variation in plant biomass all varied with planting density. Mortality was low overall but significantly higher on homogeneous soil across all three densities. Soil heterogeneity had its strongest effect on individuals. In heterogeneous treatments plant size depended on the location of the plant stem with respect to high and low nutrient patches. Thus, soil nutrient heterogeneity influenced whether particular individuals were destined to be dominant or subordinate within the population but had little effect on overall population structure.     

黄山松种群邻体范围与邻体竞争强度的研究

当环境中可利用的资源低于种群最佳生长需要时,种群内个体之间就会产生竞争。竞争常发生在邻近植物之间,植物地上部分和地下部分的竞争范围是不同的。目前,有很多度量竞争强度和确定竞争范围的方法,能否对这些方法进行改进,提出更具有说服力的方法,是本研究的出发点。黄山松是常见的针叶树种,分布范围广,生存能力强,是亚热带中部中山地区代表群系的建群种,也是较高海拔地区重要的造林树种,具有较强的代表性。对黄山松的邻体竞争研究发现:(1)改进的竞争指数有更强的说服力;(2)逐步扩大范围的方法能很好地确定植株间的竞争范围;(3)邻体竞争强度随影响范围的增加而增加,在一定的范围内增加的较快,而超出该范围后增加的幅度变小,可以此为依据来确定邻体范围;(4)不同径级的基株,邻体范围有一定的差异;(5)邻体竞争强度和影响范围的关系服从对数函数关系(CI=AlnC+B)。结果表明,改进的竞争指数能很好地度量竞争强度,采用逐步扩大范围的方法能有效地确定邻体范围。     

Asymmetric competition in plant populations

Recently there has been much interest in the hypothesis that competition between individual plants is asymmetric or onesided: larger individuals obtain a disproportionate share of the resources (for their relative size) and suppress the growth of smaller individuals. This has important implications for population structure, for the analysis of competition between plants at the individual, population and community levels, and for our understanding of competition as a selective force in the evolution of plant populations.     

Individual size variation reduces spatial variation in abundance of tree community assemblage,not of tree populations

Research on individual trait variation has gained much attention because of its implication for ecosystem functions and community ecology. The effect of individual variation on population and community abundance (number of individuals) variation remains scarcely tested. Using two established ecological scaling laws (Taylor's law and abundance–size relationship), we derived a new scaling relationship between the individual size variation and spatial variation of abundance. Tested against multi‐plot tree data from Diaoluo Mountain tropical forest in Hainan, China, the new scaling relationship showed that individual size variation reduced the spatial variation of community assemblage abundance, but not of taxon‐specific population abundance. The different responses of community and population to individual variation were reflected by the validity of the abundance–size relationship. We tested and confirmed this scaling framework using two measures of individual tree size: aboveground biomass and diameter at breast height. Using delta method and height‐diameter allometry, we derived the analytic relation of scaling exponents estimated under different individual size measures. In addition, we used multiple regression models to analyze the effect of taxon richness on the relationship between individual size variation and spatial variation of population or community abundance, for taxon‐specific and taxon‐mixed data, respectively. This work offers empirical evidence and a scaling framework for the negative effect of individual trait variation on spatial variation of plant community. It has implications for forest ecosystem and management where the role of individual variation in regulating population or community spatial variation is important but understudied.     

濒危植物峨眉含笑的种内、种间竞争

研究植物种内、种间竞争关系是探究植物濒危原因的重要方式之一, 根据竞争来源和竞争预测模型可以制定具有针对性的保护策略。本文以雅安周公山峨眉含笑(Michelia wilsonii)野生种群为研究对象, 使用逐步扩大范围法确定峨眉含笑的竞争范围半径, 运用Hegyi单木竞争模型计算竞争指数(competition index, CI), 分析其种内、种间竞争关系。结果表明: 峨眉含笑的最适竞争范围半径是10 m, 能较好地反映其种内竞争强度; 峨眉含笑的竞争压力主要来自种内, 种内竞争指数(348.72, 62.52%)远大于种间竞争指数(209.03, 37.48%); 小树、中树阶段个体的竞争强度较大, 平均竞争指数(3.97、3.14)远高于总体平均竞争指数(2.68); 内有21种竞争木, 其中杉木(Cunninghamia lanceolata)、华中樱桃(Prunus conradinae)、细刺枸骨(Ilex hylonoma)是峨眉含笑的主要竞争树种; 胸径与竞争指数间服从指数函数关系(CI = 3.8907e^-0.048x, R² = 0.1087, P < 0.01), 随着对象木胸径的增大, 竞争指数不断降低, 当胸径达到30 cm后, 竞争强度基本稳定。综上, 小树、中树阶段的峨眉含笑个体受到极强的种内竞争, 初入老树阶段的个体受到较强的种间竞争。为更好地保护峨眉含笑的天然种群, 降低竞争对种群更替的影响, 在林分管理中需要促进小树、中树的个体更新, 减轻植株间的竞争消耗, 加速峨眉含笑的生长和维持种群稳定。     

Architectural and growth traits differ in effects on performance of clonal plants: an analysis using a field-parameterized simulation model

Individual traits are often assumed to be linked in a straightforward manner to plant performance and processes such as population growth, competition and community dynamics. However, because no trait functions in isolation in an organism, the effect of any one trait is likely to be at least somewhat contingent on other trait values. Thus, to the extent that the suite of trait values differs among species, the magnitude and even direction of correlation between values of any particular trait and performance is likely to differ among species. Working with a group of clonal plant species, we assessed the degree of this contingency and therefore the extent to which the assumption of simple and general linkages between traits and performance is valid. To do this, we parameterized a highly calibrated, spatially explicit, individual‐based model of clonal plant population dynamics and then manipulated one trait at a time in the context of realistic values of other traits for each species. The model includes traits describing growth, resource allocation, response to competition, as well as architectural traits that determine spatial spread. The model was parameterized from a short‐term (3 month) experiment and then validated with a separate, longer term (two year) experiment for six clonal wetland sedges, Carex lasiocarpa, Carex sterilis, Carex stricta, Cladium mariscoides, Scirpus acutus and Scirpus americanus. These plants all co‐occur in fens in southeastern Michigan and represent a spectrum of clonal growth forms from strong clumpers to runners with long rhizomes. Varying growth, allocation and competition traits produced the largest and most uniform responses in population growth among species, while variation in architectural traits produced responses that were smaller and more variable among species. This is likely due to the fact that growth and competition traits directly affect mean ramet size and number of ramets, which are direct components of population biomass. In contrast, architectural and allocation traits determine spatial distribution of biomass; in the long run, this also affects population size, but its net effect is more likely to be mediated by other traits. Such differences in how traits affect plant performance are likely to have implications for interspecific interactions and community structure, as well as on the interpretation and usefulness of single trait optimality models.