The Significance of the Mode of Clonal Growth in the Life History of Bamboos

Abstract

Abstract The flowering behavior and juvenile growth habits of bamboos are reviewed in relation to clonal growth, and the significance of the mode of clonal growth in the life history of bamboos is discussed. The rhizome system composes the basic frame of bamboo plants and determines fundamental ecological features. We can recognize clear differences in the rhizome systems between tropical and temperate regions, as well as changes in flowering behavior. Bamboos in warmer regions have the clump‐forming pachymorph rhizome system and tend to flower at shorter intervals and less synchronously. Temperate bamboos tend to form closed bamboo forests with a leptomorph rhizome system and have a conspicuous mass flowering pattern with a long interval. The adaptive significance of differences in flowering behavior can be understood by analyzing the population structure and pattern of genet distribution in tropical and temperate regions. The population dynamics of juveniles are also strongly affected by the mode of clonal growth, especially by the pattern of expansion. The mode of clonal growth plays an important role in determining the pattern of population recovery after flowering. It is thus indispensable to analyze species‐specific characteristics of clonal growth for the elucidation of evolutionary trends of bamboo life history.