Pollen limitation of female reproductive success at fine spatial scale in a gynodioecious and wind‐pollinated species, Beta vulgaris ssp. maritima

In sexually polymorphic plants, the spatial distribution of sexes is usually not random. Local variation in phenotype frequencies is expected to affect individual fitness of the different phenotypes. For gynodioecious species, with co‐occurrence of hermaphrodites and females, if sexual phenotypes ar...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of evolutionary biology 2010-12, Vol.23 (12), p.2636-2647
Main Authors: DE CAUWER, I, ARNAUD, J.‐F, SCHMITT, E, DUFAY, M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Beta vulgaris
Beta vulgaris - genetics
Beta vulgaris - growth & development
Beta vulgaris - physiology
Beta vulgaris subsp. maritima
evolution
Evolutionary biology
female fitness
Females
frequency‐dependent selection
Genetics
Genotype & phenotype
gynodioecy
Life Sciences
Phenotype
Plant reproduction
Pollen
Pollen - physiology
pollen flow
Pollination
polymorphic mating systems
Polymorphism
Population Dynamics
Populations and Evolution
progeny
Reproduction, Asexual - genetics
reproductive performance
sex ratio
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Summary:In sexually polymorphic plants, the spatial distribution of sexes is usually not random. Local variation in phenotype frequencies is expected to affect individual fitness of the different phenotypes. For gynodioecious species, with co‐occurrence of hermaphrodites and females, if sexual phenotypes are structured in space and pollen flow is spatially restricted, local pollen availability should vary among patches. Female fitness may thus be low when hermaphrodites are locally rare. To test this hypothesis, we analysed how the reproductive output of females varied among patches within two natural study sites of the gynodioecious wind‐pollinated Beta vulgaris ssp. maritima. Plants growing in female‐biased areas and experiencing pollen limitation were found to have low fruit and seed sets but did not reallocate resources towards better offspring. Our results show that fine‐scale processes influence individual fitness and the evolution of sex ratio in sexually polymorphic plants.
ISSN:1010-061X
1420-9101
DOI:10.1111/j.1420-9101.2010.02119.x