Does sex constrain functional clonal traits and their responses to environmental heterogeneity in the stoloniferous herb Glechoma longituba?

Sexual dimorphism, such as gynodioecy, is a common sexual system in plants. Few studies have taken into account sexual dimorphism in the context of plant functional strategies. We examine whether different sexes respond similarly to environmental heterogeneity in terms of functional clonal traits. In a greenhouse experiment, a gynodioecious clonal plant Glechoma longituba was subjected to various distributions (heterogeneous and homogeneous), but the same amount, of a nutrient supply to test whether its responses to nutrient heterogeneity differed between females and hermaphrodites. Functional clonal traits related to foraging and storing of nutrients (i.e., average spacer length and specific spacer weight) were investigated. Neither the functional clonal traits nor their responses to the environmental heterogeneity were constrained by sex. Nutrient heterogeneity significantly affected root to shoot ratio and the functional clonal traits linked to resource foraging. Our results suggest that sex-independence of functional clonal traits are related to resource foraging and storage and to their responses to environmental heterogeneity in G. longituba.