The influence of floral symmetry and pollination systems on flower size variation

We compared the amount of variation in flower size between autogamous and insect-pollinated species to examine the hypothesis that pollinator-mediated selection stabilizes flower size in plant populations. One would expect the flower size variation to be larger in selfing species that are less affec...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nordic journal of botany 2007-01, Vol.24 (5), p.593-598
Main Authors: Ushimaru, A, Kikuchi, S, Yonekura, R, Maruyama, A, Yanagisawa, N, Kagami, M, Nakagawa, M, Mahoro, S, Kohmatsu, Y, Hatada, A, Kitamura, S, Nakata, K
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:We compared the amount of variation in flower size between autogamous and insect-pollinated species to examine the hypothesis that pollinator-mediated selection stabilizes flower size in plant populations. One would expect the flower size variation to be larger in selfing species that are less affected by pollinator-mediated stabilizing selection than in insect-pollinated species. The results of phylogenetic comparisons between autogamous and insect-pollinated flowers supported the pollinator-mediated stabilizing selection hypothesis, although the non-phylogenetic comparison did not. According to our results, we discuss the factors influencing the flower size variation.
ISSN:0107-055X