Assessing the contributions of multiple interacting traits to plant reproductive success: environmental dependence
نویسندگان
چکیده
The reproductive success of sibling cocklebur plants (Compositae: Xunthium strumarium) was monitored after growth at different levels of availability of water and nutrient resources. Variation in reproductive success among individual plants was related to physiological, structural, and phenological characteristics. Reproductive success increased with increased availability of resources, but the relative contribution of particular traits to reproductive success varied with resource availability. Allocation of biomass to different vegetative tissues, time to seedling emergence, degree of branching, transpiration rates, water use efficiency, the rate of decline in height growth after seedling emergence and final plant size all varied significantly with resource availability. However, the changes in each of these phenotypic traits across three garden environments did not always correlate with reproductive success. The shifts across environments in the apparent importance of somatic traits for reproductive success were attributed to plastic changes in the traits but also to changes in the phenotypic correlations of the traits with reproductive success.
منابع مشابه
Threatened and Endangered Subspecies with Vulnerable Ecological Traits Also Have High Susceptibility to Sea Level Rise and Habitat Fragmentation
The presence of multiple interacting threats to biodiversity and the increasing rate of species extinction make it critical to prioritize management efforts on species and communities that maximize conservation success. We implemented a multi-step approach that coupled vulnerability assessments evaluating threats to Florida taxa such as climate change, sea-level rise, and habitat fragmentation ...
متن کاملCondition dependence of male and female reproductive success: insights from a simultaneous hermaphrodite
Sexually selected traits are predicted to show condition dependence by capturing the genetic quality of its bearer. In separate-sexed organisms, this will ultimately translate into condition dependence of reproductive success of the sex that experiences sexual selection, which is typically the male. Such condition dependence of reproductive success is predicted to be higher in males than female...
متن کاملAssessing of plant functional traits to Environmental Factors using RLQ and Q-corner Methods (Case study: Zeyar rangeland, Mazandaran province)
The functional properties of a plant can link the plant physiology with community and ecosystem processes. Thus it provides an appropriate tool for investigation of environmental changes and biodiversity. For this purpose, Zeiar rangeland of Damavand Mountain were selected as the 6000ha study area. A stratified-random sampling method was used for the sampling of vegetation and soil. Topograph...
متن کاملWhen rarity has costs: coexistence under positive frequency-dependence and environmental stochasticity
Stable coexistence relies on negative frequency-dependence, in which rarer species invading a patch benefit from a lack of conspecific competition experienced by residents. In nature, however, rarity can have costs, resulting in positive frequency-dependence particularly when species are rare. Many processes can cause positive frequency-dependence, including a lack of mates, mutualist interacti...
متن کاملLimits to reproductive success of Sarracenia purpurea (Sarraceniaceae).
Plant biologists have an enduring interest in assessing components of plant fitness and determining limits to seed set. Consequently, the relative contributions of resource and pollinator availability have been documented for a large number of plant species. We experimentally examined the roles of resource and pollen availability on seed set by the northern pitcher plant Sarracenia purpurea. We...
متن کامل