Population Biology of Clintonia Borealis: II. Survival and Growth of Transplanted Ramets in Different Environments

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Abstract
Three transplant experiments, 2 involving rhizomes and 1 involving seeds, were performed to determine how environmental vs. genetic factors account for differences in survival and growth in patches of C. borealis. No adaptive genetic differences were found beween plants collected from widely contrasting light regimes. Plants collected from any particular source survived and grew in a wide range of garden environments. There were no differences in survival and clonal growth in either of the rhizome transplant experiments. However, there were differences in mean genet size in the later years of each experiment. Mortality and clonal growth of rhizome transplants were genet size-dependent. After initial high mortality and clonal growth were similar to those observed in natural patches. Most transplanted seeds and their seedlings died. Both mortality and growth in size of seedlings varied significantly among transplant sites. The results confirm patterns observed in a study of natural patches. Genets of C. borealis have broad ecological tolerances and few, if any, easily detectable genetic differences.