Discussion
This work sheds new light on the precise influence of PC on the
genotypic and genetic composition of natural populations, allowing the
identification of the most accurate parameters that should theoretically
be used to estimate c under a wide range of conditions.
Nevertheless, the results also clearly demonstrate that the most useful
parameters, namely, the R and Pareto β describing
genotypic diversity, are seriously affected by sampling density. This
vulnerability raises questions about our ability to detect clonality by
sampling large populations only once and serious doubts as to the
possibility of quantitatively inferring rates of clonality in large
populations based on genotypic diversity alone.
These findings stimulate new interpretations of some published data and
perspectives on improvements that are required to further understand the
dynamics and evolution of the broad range of species exhibiting PC.