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Hermaphroditism promotes mate diversity in flowering plants
Author(s) -
Christopher Dorothy A.,
Mitchell Randall J.,
Trapnell Dorset W.,
Smallwood Patrick A.,
Semski Wendy R.,
Karron Jeffrey D.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
american journal of botany
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.218
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1537-2197
pISSN - 0002-9122
DOI - 10.1002/ajb2.1336
Subject(s) - biology , outcrossing , pollen , pollination , population , mate choice , mating , dioecy , mating system , diversity (politics) , sexual selection , reproductive success , ecology , zoology , demography , sociology , anthropology
Premise Genetically diverse sibships are thought to increase parental fitness through a reduction in the intensity of sib competition, and through increased opportunities for seedling establishment in spatially or temporally heterogeneous environments. Nearly all research on mate diversity in flowering plants has focused on the number of fathers siring seeds within a fruit or on a maternal plant. Yet as hermaphrodites, plants can also accrue mate diversity by siring offspring on several pollen recipients in a population. Here we explore whether mate composition overlaps between the dual sex functions, and discuss the implications for plant reproductive success. Methods We established an experimental population of 49 Mimulus ringens (monkeyflower) plants, each trimmed to a single flower. Following pollination by wild bees, we quantified mate composition for each flower through both paternal and maternal function. Parentage was successfully assigned to 240 progeny, 98% of the sampled seeds. Results Comparison of mate composition between male and female function revealed high mate diversity, with almost no outcross mates shared between the two sexual functions of the same flower. Conclusions Dual sex roles contribute to a near doubling of mate diversity in our experimental population of Mimulus ringens . This finding may help explain the maintenance of hermaphroditism under conditions that would otherwise favor the evolution of separate sexes.