A 56‐day feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the potential use of faba bean meal (FBM) as a partial replacement of soybean meal (SBM) in the commercial diets for juvenile grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) with initial average weight of 3.39 ± 0.03 g. Five isonitrogenous and isoenergetic diets were formulated to replace SBM by FBM protein at 0, 150, 300, 450 and 600 g kg−1 (designated as FBM0, FBM15, FBM30, FBM45 and FBM60, respectively). The results indicated that up to 420.3 g kg−1 of FBM can be used for grass carp without negative effects on growth and feed utilization. The higher FBM level would result in growth retardation. The apparent digestibility and intestinal enzymes activities significantly decreased with increased dietary FBM, and the lowest value was observed in diet FBM60. No significant differences were detected in protein contents of whole body, muscle and liver tissues among all treatments. Intraperitoneal fat index and lipid contents of whole body and liver tissues significantly decreased with increased dietary FBM. Serum antioxidant enzymes were significantly affected by dietary FBM level, and the lowest enzymes activities were found in diets FBM45 and FBM60. Results of this study indicated that FBM can successfully replace SBM protein in the commercial diets for grass carp, and the optimum level of SBM replacement with FBM was 450 g kg−1 on the basis of the maximum growth gain.

One benefit of clonal integration is that resource translocation between connected ramets enhances the growth of the ramets grown under stressful conditions, but whether such resource translocation reduces the performance of the ramets grown under favourable conditions has not produced consistent results. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that resource translocation to recipient ramets may reduce the performance of donor ramets when resources are limiting but not when resources are abundant.• We grew Mikania micrantha stolon fragments (each consisting of two ramets, either connected or not connected) under spatially heterogeneous competition conditions such that the developmentally younger, distal ramets were grown in competition with a plant community and the developmentally older, proximal ramets were grown without competition. For half of the stolon fragments, slow-release fertiliser pellets were applied to both the distal and proximal ramets.• Under both the low and increased soil nutrient conditions, the biomass, leaf number and stolon length of the distal ramets were higher, and those of the proximal ramets were lower when the stolon internode was intact than when it was severed. For the whole clone, the biomass, leaf number and stolon length did not differ between the two connection treatments. Connection did not change the biomass of the plant communities competing with distal ramets of M. micrantha.• Although clonal integration may promote the invasion of M. micrantha into plant communities, resource translocation to recipient ramets of M. micrantha will induce a cost to the donor ramets, even when resources are relatively abundant.