The relationship between sexual reproduction and clonal growth in clonal plants often shows up at the ramet level. However, only a few studies focus on the relationship at the genet level, which could finally account for evolution. The sexual reproduction and clonal growth of Ligularia virgaurea, a perennial herb widely distributed in the alpine grasslands of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau of China, were studied under different competition intensities and light conditions at the genet level through a potted experiment. The results showed that: (1) sexual reproduction did not depend on density or light, and increasing clonal growth with decreasing density and increasing light intensity indicated that intraspecific competition and light intensity may affect the clonal life history of L. virgaurea; (2) both sexual reproduction and clonal growth show a positive linear relationship with genet size under different densities and light conditions; (3) a threshold size is required for sexual reproduction and no evidence of a threshold size for clonal growth under different densities and light conditions; (4) light level affected the allocation of total biomass to clonal and sexual structures, with less allocation to clonal structures and more allocation to sexual structures in full sunlight than in shade; (5) light determined the onset of sexual reproduction, and the genets in the shade required a smaller threshold size for sexual reproduction to occur than the plants in full sunlight; and (6) no evidence was found of trade-offs between clonal growth and sexual reproduction under different densities and light conditions at the genet level, and the positive correlation between two reproductive modes indicated that these are two integrated processes. Clonal growth in this species may be viewed as a growth strategy that tends to maximize genet fitness.

Salinization is one of the main types causing land desertification in arid and semi‐arid regions. Little is known about the impacts of salinization on the distribution and diversity of plant species, especially in semiarid inland saline habitats. We established a total of 40 sampling plots to determine plant community (floristic composition, species abundance, cover, frequency, and aboveground biomass) and soil characteristics (moisture, pH, electrical conductivity (EC), and the contents of Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Cl−, SO42− and HCO3−). The TWINSPAN method was used to distinguish plant communities, by which three plant communities (I, II, III) were identified, namely Artemisia scoparia + Agropyron cristatum + Sophora alopecuroides (I), Kalidium gracile + Atriplex centralasiatica (II), and Salicornia europaea + Suaeda salsa (III). From I to III, the indices reflecting species diversity all decreased except for Pielou's index of evenness, while the aboveground biomass and cover increased; the characteristic indices of soil moisture, EC, the contents of Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Cl−, SO42− and total dissolved salts (TDS) significantly increased, while the Ca2+/Na+, K+/Na+ ratios and HCO3− content significantly decreased. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) showed that the most important environmental factors influencing species distribution were: soil moisture, SO42−, K+/Na+ and pH. Stepwise multiple‐regression analysis indicated that species richness was correlated mainly with TDS and moisture. These results also suggested that vegetation can be used as a proxy indicating soil salt conditions, and their relationships can further provide important information for the improvement of salt‐affected soil's management and salt‐tolerant species utilization in environmental restoration.