Salzman A G
Science. 1985 May 3;228(4699):603-4. doi: 10.1126/science.3983647.
Rhizomatous growth may permit the nonrandom placement of ramets into different environments, but whether clonal plants are able to use this means to exercise adaptive habitat choice is not known. Western ragweed (Ambrosia psilostachya) plants are shown to preferentially colonize nonsaline soil over saline soil patches, and clones with the strongest preference for nonsaline soil are those least able to grow when restricted to saline conditions. In clonal plant species, nonrandom associations of genotypes with specific environments may thus reflect habitat selection by plants as well as selective mortality imposed by different habitat patches.
根状茎生长可能使分株能够非随机地分布于不同环境中，但克隆植物是否能够利用这种方式进行适应性生境选择尚不清楚。研究表明，西部豚草（Ambrosia psilostachya）植株优先在非盐渍土壤而非盐渍土壤斑块上定殖，并且对非盐渍土壤偏好最强的克隆体，在限于盐渍条件时生长能力最差。因此，在克隆植物物种中，基因型与特定环境的非随机关联可能既反映了植物的生境选择，也反映了不同生境斑块所施加的选择性死亡。
