The dynamics of plant populations are highly influenced by light-dependent growth features and patterns of reproduction when overwintering. Vallisneria spinulosa is a common submersed macrophyte and has been widely used in lake restoration projects. The relationship between reproduction when overwintering and regrowth in the following year is not well known and may vary with light intensity. In this study, reproduction and plant growth of V. spinulosa were tested at three light intensities (high, moderate and low, i.e. 50%, 15% and 7% of full sunlight, respectively) for 1 year. Asexual reproduction by forming winter tubers in the sediment was found to be of greater significance for population maintenance than sexual reproduction. Plant biomass and ramet number remained unchanged between October and June in the following year at both 15% and 7% of full sunlight, suggesting that the light requirement for population maintenance is low. At high light, plant biomass, ramet number and tuber biomass were higher and plants tended to form a larger number of small-sized than large-sized tubers. Small-sized tubers featured a high nitrogen content and germinated early, while large-sized tubers were characterised by a high carbon content and germinated later in spring. Thus, there probably is a trade-off between the germination schedule and carbon and nitrogen contents, depending on tuber size. Large numbers, high nitrogen content and early germination of small tubers at high light supported fast establishment of V. spinulosa populations in spring. Our study highlights the importance of asexual reproduction as contributing to a high competition and expansion capacity for V. spinulosa populations, making it a valuable species to focus on for lake management and restoration.

植物种群的动态受光依赖的生长特征和越冬时的繁殖模式的影响很大。Vallisneria spinulosa是一种常见的沉水植物，已广泛应用于湖泊修复工程。越冬时繁殖与来年再生之间的关系尚不清楚，可能会随光照强度而变化。在本研究中，V. spinulosa 的繁殖和植物生长在三种光强度（高、中和低，即分别为全日照的 50%、15% 和 7%）下测试了 1 年。通过在沉积物中形成冬季块茎的无性繁殖被发现比有性繁殖对种群维持具有更大的意义。植物生物量和分株数在 10 月和次年 6 月之间保持不变，分别为全日照的 15% 和 7%，表明种群维持的光需求较低。在高光下，植物生物量、分株数和块茎生物量较高，并且植物倾向于形成比大型块茎更多的小型块茎。小块茎含氮量高，发芽早，大块茎含碳量高，春季发芽晚。因此，取决于块茎的大小，发芽时间表与碳和氮含量之间可能存在权衡。高光下小块茎数量多、含氮量高和发芽早，支持快速建立V. spinulosa春季种群。我们的研究强调了无性繁殖的重要性，因为它有助于V. spinulosa种群的高竞争和扩张能力，使其成为湖泊管理和恢复重点关注的宝贵物种。