Clonal plants often dominate communities with extensive vegetative growth, with potentially important consequences for ecological patterns and processes. Here I will discuss how such clonal species may influence community dynamics and ecosystem functions by altering abiotic and biotic soil properties. Some clonal plants have the ability to enhance their growth in heterogeneous environments by foraging and translocating resources between connected ramets (via rhizomes, for example), which may in turn influence the abundance of other plants because of the competitive advantage of clonal species. Genetic diversity within a dominant clonal species may enhance community productivity via genotypic interactions, and the enhanced transfer of organic carbon to soil may have cascading effects on soil biota and other functions. Mechanistic understanding of such effects might help to manage (semi-)natural and constructed ecosystems in some situations.