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Restriction of sexual reproduction in the moss Racomitrium lanuginosum along an elevational gradient
1. Terrestrial plant populations located at the margins of species’ distributions often display reduced sexual reproduction and an increased reliance on asexual reproduction. One hypothesis to explain this phenomenon is that the decline is associated with environmental effects on the energetic costs...
Autores principales: | , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
John Wiley and Sons Inc.
2020
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Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7520195/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33005364 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6666 |
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author | Maruo, Fumino Imura, Satoshi |
author_facet | Maruo, Fumino Imura, Satoshi |
author_sort | Maruo, Fumino |
collection | PubMed |
description | 1. Terrestrial plant populations located at the margins of species’ distributions often display reduced sexual reproduction and an increased reliance on asexual reproduction. One hypothesis to explain this phenomenon is that the decline is associated with environmental effects on the energetic costs to produce reproductive organs. 2. In order to clarify the changing processes of sexual reproduction along an elevational gradient, we investigated the sexual reproductive parameters, such as the number of sporophytes and gametangia, in Racomitrium lanuginosum, a dioicous moss found on Mt. Fuji. 3. Matured sporophytes were present only below 3,000 m, and the number of sporophytes per shoot tended to be lower at higher elevation habitats. The numbers of male inflorescences per shoot and antheridia per inflorescence and shoot significantly decreased with increasing elevation. In contrast, the numbers of female inflorescences per shoot and archegonia per inflorescence and shoot varied little across elevations. 4. Synthesis. Our results suggest that the reasons for this limitation are assumed to be limitations in sporophyte development that result in abortion, and the spatial segregation between males and females. Possible reasons for the abortion of sporophytes are the inhibitory effects of low air temperature, a shortened growth period, and winter environmental conditions at higher elevations. Remarkable differences between male and female on various reproductive parameters found in this study are thought to affect the mode of sexual reproduction under the harsh environment. These differences between males and females may be caused by differences in the costs of production and development of gametangia, sensitivity to environmental stressors, and phenological patterns. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-7520195 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2020 |
publisher | John Wiley and Sons Inc. |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-75201952020-09-30 Restriction of sexual reproduction in the moss Racomitrium lanuginosum along an elevational gradient Maruo, Fumino Imura, Satoshi Ecol Evol Original Research 1. Terrestrial plant populations located at the margins of species’ distributions often display reduced sexual reproduction and an increased reliance on asexual reproduction. One hypothesis to explain this phenomenon is that the decline is associated with environmental effects on the energetic costs to produce reproductive organs. 2. In order to clarify the changing processes of sexual reproduction along an elevational gradient, we investigated the sexual reproductive parameters, such as the number of sporophytes and gametangia, in Racomitrium lanuginosum, a dioicous moss found on Mt. Fuji. 3. Matured sporophytes were present only below 3,000 m, and the number of sporophytes per shoot tended to be lower at higher elevation habitats. The numbers of male inflorescences per shoot and antheridia per inflorescence and shoot significantly decreased with increasing elevation. In contrast, the numbers of female inflorescences per shoot and archegonia per inflorescence and shoot varied little across elevations. 4. Synthesis. Our results suggest that the reasons for this limitation are assumed to be limitations in sporophyte development that result in abortion, and the spatial segregation between males and females. Possible reasons for the abortion of sporophytes are the inhibitory effects of low air temperature, a shortened growth period, and winter environmental conditions at higher elevations. Remarkable differences between male and female on various reproductive parameters found in this study are thought to affect the mode of sexual reproduction under the harsh environment. These differences between males and females may be caused by differences in the costs of production and development of gametangia, sensitivity to environmental stressors, and phenological patterns. John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2020-08-19 /pmc/articles/PMC7520195/ /pubmed/33005364 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6666 Text en © 2020 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
spellingShingle | Original Research Maruo, Fumino Imura, Satoshi Restriction of sexual reproduction in the moss Racomitrium lanuginosum along an elevational gradient |
title | Restriction of sexual reproduction in the moss Racomitrium lanuginosum along an elevational gradient |
title_full | Restriction of sexual reproduction in the moss Racomitrium lanuginosum along an elevational gradient |
title_fullStr | Restriction of sexual reproduction in the moss Racomitrium lanuginosum along an elevational gradient |
title_full_unstemmed | Restriction of sexual reproduction in the moss Racomitrium lanuginosum along an elevational gradient |
title_short | Restriction of sexual reproduction in the moss Racomitrium lanuginosum along an elevational gradient |
title_sort | restriction of sexual reproduction in the moss racomitrium lanuginosum along an elevational gradient |
topic | Original Research |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7520195/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33005364 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6666 |
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