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FLORAL SEX ALLOCATION IN SEQUENTIALLY BLOOMING PLANTS
Johanne Brunet1,2, Deborah Charlesworth3
1Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, 97331-2902.
Summary
Plant flowers with sequential development can vary resource allocation. Dichogamy influences sex allocation, leading to differences among flowers, especially when mating environments differ.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary Biology
- Plant Reproductive Strategies
- Sex Allocation Theory
Background:
- In plants with sequential flowering, individual flowers can have varying roles in pollen donation and receipt.
- Dichogamy, or directed pollinator movement, creates diverse mating environments within a single inflorescence.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze resource allocation in hermaphroditic plants with varying mating environments among flowers.
- To introduce modularity into sex-allocation models by considering intra-plant variation.
Main Methods:
- Evolutionarily Stable Strategy (ESS) analysis of resource allocation.
- Modeling sex allocation in hermaphroditic plants with heterogeneous floral mating environments.
Main Results:
- Variation in mating environments among flowers can drive differences in sex allocation between flowers.
- Nonlinear relationships between resource allocation and fertility can lead to sex allocation variation due to resource availability.
Conclusions:
- Dichogamy and pollinator behavior significantly influence floral sex allocation strategies.
- The study provides insights into the evolution of andromonoecy and monoecy in plants.