Cargando…

Disruptive selection via pollinators and seed predators on the height of flowers on a wind‐dispersed alpine herb

PREMISE: Floral stalk height is known to affect seed dispersal of wind‐dispersed grassland species, but it may also affect the attractiveness of flowers and fruits of animal‐pollinated and animal‐dispersed plants. Stalk height may thus be responsive to selection via interactions with both mutualist...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Chen, Kai‐Hsiu, Pannell, John R.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9828390/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36194694
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ajb2.16073
_version_ 1784867262698618880
author Chen, Kai‐Hsiu
Pannell, John R.
author_facet Chen, Kai‐Hsiu
Pannell, John R.
author_sort Chen, Kai‐Hsiu
collection PubMed
description PREMISE: Floral stalk height is known to affect seed dispersal of wind‐dispersed grassland species, but it may also affect the attractiveness of flowers and fruits of animal‐pollinated and animal‐dispersed plants. Stalk height may thus be responsive to selection via interactions with both mutualist pollinators and seed dispersers, but also antagonist florivores and seed predators. In this study, we aimed to determine the effect of pollinators and seed predators on selection on floral stalk height in the insect‐pollinated and wind‐dispersed, alpine, andromonoecious herb Pulsatilla alpina, whose flowers also vary in their sex allocation and thus in the resources available to both mutualists and antagonists. METHODS: We measured the resource status of individuals in terms of their size and the height of the vegetation surrounding plants of P. alpina at 11 sites. In one population, we recorded floral stalk height over an entire growing season and investigated its association with floral morphology and floral sex allocation (pistil and stamen number) and used leaf‐removal manipulations to assess the effect of herbivory on floral stalk height. Finally, in four populations, we quantified phenotypic selection on floral stalk height in four female components of reproductive success before seed dispersal. RESULTS: Stalk height was positively associated with female allocation of the respective flower, the resource status of the individual, and the height of the surrounding vegetation, and negatively affected by leaf removal. Our results point to disruptive selection on stalk height in terms of both selection differentials and selection gradients for fertilization, seed predation, and seed maturation rates and to positive selection on stalk height in terms of a selection differential for mature seed number. CONCLUSIONS: Stalk height of P. alpina is a costly trait that affects female reproductive success via interactions with both mutualists and antagonists. We discuss the interplay between the resource status and selection imposed on female reproductive success and its likely role in the evolution of sex‐allocation strategies, especially andromonoecy.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-9828390
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2022
publisher John Wiley and Sons Inc.
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-98283902023-01-10 Disruptive selection via pollinators and seed predators on the height of flowers on a wind‐dispersed alpine herb Chen, Kai‐Hsiu Pannell, John R. Am J Bot Special Issue Articles PREMISE: Floral stalk height is known to affect seed dispersal of wind‐dispersed grassland species, but it may also affect the attractiveness of flowers and fruits of animal‐pollinated and animal‐dispersed plants. Stalk height may thus be responsive to selection via interactions with both mutualist pollinators and seed dispersers, but also antagonist florivores and seed predators. In this study, we aimed to determine the effect of pollinators and seed predators on selection on floral stalk height in the insect‐pollinated and wind‐dispersed, alpine, andromonoecious herb Pulsatilla alpina, whose flowers also vary in their sex allocation and thus in the resources available to both mutualists and antagonists. METHODS: We measured the resource status of individuals in terms of their size and the height of the vegetation surrounding plants of P. alpina at 11 sites. In one population, we recorded floral stalk height over an entire growing season and investigated its association with floral morphology and floral sex allocation (pistil and stamen number) and used leaf‐removal manipulations to assess the effect of herbivory on floral stalk height. Finally, in four populations, we quantified phenotypic selection on floral stalk height in four female components of reproductive success before seed dispersal. RESULTS: Stalk height was positively associated with female allocation of the respective flower, the resource status of the individual, and the height of the surrounding vegetation, and negatively affected by leaf removal. Our results point to disruptive selection on stalk height in terms of both selection differentials and selection gradients for fertilization, seed predation, and seed maturation rates and to positive selection on stalk height in terms of a selection differential for mature seed number. CONCLUSIONS: Stalk height of P. alpina is a costly trait that affects female reproductive success via interactions with both mutualists and antagonists. We discuss the interplay between the resource status and selection imposed on female reproductive success and its likely role in the evolution of sex‐allocation strategies, especially andromonoecy. John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2022-10-04 2022-11 /pmc/articles/PMC9828390/ /pubmed/36194694 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ajb2.16073 Text en © 2022 The Authors. American Journal of Botany published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Botanical Society of America. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non‐commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
spellingShingle Special Issue Articles
Chen, Kai‐Hsiu
Pannell, John R.
Disruptive selection via pollinators and seed predators on the height of flowers on a wind‐dispersed alpine herb
title Disruptive selection via pollinators and seed predators on the height of flowers on a wind‐dispersed alpine herb
title_full Disruptive selection via pollinators and seed predators on the height of flowers on a wind‐dispersed alpine herb
title_fullStr Disruptive selection via pollinators and seed predators on the height of flowers on a wind‐dispersed alpine herb
title_full_unstemmed Disruptive selection via pollinators and seed predators on the height of flowers on a wind‐dispersed alpine herb
title_short Disruptive selection via pollinators and seed predators on the height of flowers on a wind‐dispersed alpine herb
title_sort disruptive selection via pollinators and seed predators on the height of flowers on a wind‐dispersed alpine herb
topic Special Issue Articles
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9828390/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36194694
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ajb2.16073
work_keys_str_mv AT chenkaihsiu disruptiveselectionviapollinatorsandseedpredatorsontheheightofflowersonawinddispersedalpineherb
AT pannelljohnr disruptiveselectionviapollinatorsandseedpredatorsontheheightofflowersonawinddispersedalpineherb