Abstract: Heterogeneity in resource availability is common in nature. Clonal plants can adapt to habitats with heterogeneous nutrient availability by clonal integration. We conducted a pot experiment to examine the effects of clonal integration on the performance of a strongly invasive plant in Hainan, Mikania micrantha, growing in habitats with heterogeneous nutrient availability. The results demonstrated that when nutrient availability was heterogeneous, clonal integration increased the biomass of the ramets growing in patches with low nutrient availability, reduced the biomass of the ramets growing in patches with high nutrient availability, and did not significantly change the biomass of the whole clonal fragments. This result was not affected by the direction of resource transportation. Clonal integration did not significantly change the ramets’ photosynthetic rate and specific leaf area, but when the proximal ramets grew under high nutrient conditions, clonal integration changed the root/shoot ratio of the clonal ramets. These results indicate that clonal integration benefits the growth of M. micrantha ramets growing in patches with low nutrient availability. Therefore, clonal integration is an important growth strategy for M. micrantha to adapt to environments with heterogeneous resource availability, and it can allow M. micrantha to expand to low nutrient patches, improving the plant’s invasion and expansion capacity.

Key words: ecological security pattern, Hangjin Banner., ecological corridor, ecological source, surface humid index