Patterns of variation were studied in a pasture population of Plantago lanceolata. Four subsites could be distinguished along a riverside gradient ranging from a dry ridge towards a wet depression (a former river-bed). A reciprocal-transplant experiment revealed differences between sites in mortality patterns, plant growth and reproduction. At some sites the native plants performed best; differences in survival in particular were observed during extreme abiotic circumstances, drought at the highest site and inundation at a low site (...)