Evolutionary consequences of ecological factors: pollinator reliability predicts mating-system traits of a perennial plant

The reproductive‐assurance hypothesis predicts that mating‐system traits will evolve towards increased autonomous self‐pollination in plant populations experiencing unreliable pollinator service. We tested this long‐standing hypothesis by assessing geographic covariation among pollinator reliability...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ecology letters 2016-12, Vol.19 (12), p.1486-1495
Main Authors: Opedal, Øystein H., Albertsen, Elena, Armbruster, W. Scott, Pérez-Barrales, Rocío, Falahati-Anbaran, Mohsen, Pélabon, Christophe
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Bees - physiology
Costa Rica
Crosses, Genetic
Dalechampia
ecological context
Euphorbiaceae - genetics
Euphorbiaceae - physiology
Evolutionary biology
Female
Flowers
Genotype
herkogamy
Heterozygote
Inbreeding Depression
Male
Microsatellite Repeats
mixed mating systems
Plant ecology
Plant populations
Plant reproduction
plant-pollinator interactions
Pollen - physiology
Pollination - physiology
reproductive assurance
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Summary:The reproductive‐assurance hypothesis predicts that mating‐system traits will evolve towards increased autonomous self‐pollination in plant populations experiencing unreliable pollinator service. We tested this long‐standing hypothesis by assessing geographic covariation among pollinator reliability, outcrossing rates, heterozygosity and relevant floral traits across populations of Dalechampia scandens in Costa Rica. Mean outcrossing rates ranged from 0.16 to 0.49 across four populations, and covaried with the average rates of pollen arrival on stigmas, a measure of pollinator reliability. Across populations, genetically based differences in herkogamy (anther–stigma distance) were associated with variation in stigmatic pollen loads, outcrossing rates and heterozygosity. These observations are consistent with the hypothesis that, when pollinators are unreliable, floral traits promoting autonomous selfing evolve as a mechanism of reproductive assurance. Extensive covariation between floral traits and mating system among closely related populations further suggests that floral traits influencing mating systems track variation in adaptive optima generated by variation in pollinator reliability.
ISSN:1461-023X
1461-0248
DOI:10.1111/ele.12701