Warming in combination with increased precipitation mediate the sexual and clonal reproduction in the desert steppe dominant species Stipa breviflora.

Background: Clonal plants can successfully adapt to various ecosystems. A trade-off between sexual and clonal reproduction is generally assumed in clonal plants, which may be influenced both by the characteristics of the plant itself and environmental conditions. Currently, it is unclear how climate change, and specifically warming and increased precipitation, might affect sexual and clonal reproduction in clonal plants. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate both the sexual and clonal reproduction responses of Stipa breviflora to warming and increased precipitation. A controlled experiment was conducted by inducing increases in precipitation (ambient condition, 25% and 50% increases) and warming (ambient temperature, 1.5 °C and 3.0 °C increases).

Results: Warming significantly influenced both the ratio of reproductive ramet shoot biomass to total shoot biomass, and the ratio of reproductive ramet number to total ramet number. Additionally, the ratio of reproductive ramet shoot biomass to total shoot biomass was also significantly affected by increased precipitation. Increased precipitation benefited sexual reproduction, while effects of warming on reproductive and/or vegetative ramets varied from negative to positive depending on precipitation conditions. There was no relationship between the number or shoot biomass of reproductive ramets and vegetative ramets. Reproductive ramets displayed greater sensitivity to climate change than vegetative ramets.

Conclusions: The findings of our study suggest that there was no trade-off between sexual and clonal reproduction in S. breviflora. The combined impact of warming and increased precipitation promoted sexual reproduction but did not inhibit clonal reproduction. Clonal plants with the capacity for both sexual and clonal reproduction, may cope with climate change well via clonal reproduction, ensuring their survival.