[1] This type of reproduction seems to be best suited for plants who have a fair amount of security in their environment as they do continuously reproduce.
[3] However, these aspects may not necessarily be directly correlated and some plants, notably invasive species, do not follow this general trend and actually show a fairly long lifespan with frequent reproduction.
[4] One trend that has been noticed throughout some studies is how quicker lifespans generally impact how quickly the plants increasingly expend their energy towards reproduction.
[5] Even if polycarpic plants are faced with competition, there are many ways they might respond to it such as focusing more on growth than reproduction in the hopes that they would eventually overcome the competition to successfully reproduce, or, on the other hand, the threat of elimination of the species might be too large that the plant focuses more strongly on reproduction, but this would ultimately impact their development, diminishing both their ability to grow and reproduce.
[5] This study reports that generally, when pressured, the polycarpic plant seems to focus more on reproduction, which may help them against competition as it allows them to become less overwhelmed.