TY - JOUR
T1 - Pollination context alters female advantage in gynodioecious Silene vulgaris
AU - Stone, James
AU - Olson, Matthew
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by an Alaska EPSCoR Dissertation Enhancement Award, a Walton Fellowship from the University of Virginia’s Mountain Lake Biological Field Station, a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, and National Science Foundation award DEB 0317115. This manuscript was improved by critical feedback from Naoki Takebayashi, Pat Doak, Diana Wolf, and anonymous reviewers. The authors declare they have no conflicts of interest.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 European Society For Evolutionary Biology. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2017 European Society For Evolutionary Biology
PY - 2018/1
Y1 - 2018/1
N2 - Gynodioecy, the co-occurrence of females and hermaphrodites, is arguably the most common angiosperm gender polymorphism in many florae. Females’ ability to invade and persist among hermaphrodites depends, in part, on pollinators providing adequate pollination to females. We directly measured diurnal and nocturnal pollinators’ contributions to female and hermaphrodite seed production in artificial populations of gynodioecious Silene vulgaris by experimentally restricting pollinator access. We found that female relative seed production in this system depended strongly on pollination context: females produced more than twice as many seeds as hermaphrodites in the context of abundant, nectar-collecting moths. Conversely, females showed no seed production advantage in the context of pollen-collecting syrphid flies and bees due to acutely hermaphrodite-biased visitation. We infer that variation in pollinator type, behaviour and abundance may be important for achieving the female relative fitness thresholds necessary for the maintenance of gynodioecy. Generally, our study illustrates how pollinator-mediated mechanisms may influence the evolution of breeding systems and associated suites of floral traits. Segments of a pollinator community may facilitate gynodioecy by selecting for plant characteristics that increase the attractiveness of both sexes to pollinators, such as nectar rewards. Conversely, discriminating visitors in search of pollen may restrict gynodioecy in associated plant lineages by reducing male steriles’ fitness below threshold levels.
AB - Gynodioecy, the co-occurrence of females and hermaphrodites, is arguably the most common angiosperm gender polymorphism in many florae. Females’ ability to invade and persist among hermaphrodites depends, in part, on pollinators providing adequate pollination to females. We directly measured diurnal and nocturnal pollinators’ contributions to female and hermaphrodite seed production in artificial populations of gynodioecious Silene vulgaris by experimentally restricting pollinator access. We found that female relative seed production in this system depended strongly on pollination context: females produced more than twice as many seeds as hermaphrodites in the context of abundant, nectar-collecting moths. Conversely, females showed no seed production advantage in the context of pollen-collecting syrphid flies and bees due to acutely hermaphrodite-biased visitation. We infer that variation in pollinator type, behaviour and abundance may be important for achieving the female relative fitness thresholds necessary for the maintenance of gynodioecy. Generally, our study illustrates how pollinator-mediated mechanisms may influence the evolution of breeding systems and associated suites of floral traits. Segments of a pollinator community may facilitate gynodioecy by selecting for plant characteristics that increase the attractiveness of both sexes to pollinators, such as nectar rewards. Conversely, discriminating visitors in search of pollen may restrict gynodioecy in associated plant lineages by reducing male steriles’ fitness below threshold levels.
KW - cytoplasmic male sterility
KW - dioecy
KW - gynodioecy
KW - mating system
KW - pollinator behaviour
KW - resource compensation
KW - sex ratio
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85034599221&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/jeb.13203
DO - 10.1111/jeb.13203
M3 - Article
C2 - 29094423
VL - 31
SP - 111
EP - 122
JO - Journal of Evolutionary Biology
JF - Journal of Evolutionary Biology
IS - 1
ER -