Open AccessSex change in the subdioecious shrub Eurya japonica (Pentaphylacaceae)
Author(s) -
Wang Hui,
Matsushita Michinari,
Tomaru Nobuhiro,
Nakagawa Michiko
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
ecology and evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.17
H-Index - 63
ISSN - 2045-7758
DOI - 10.1002/ece3.2745
Subject(s) - sex change , hermaphrodite , biology , sex ratio , japonica , sexual dimorphism , population , ecology , demography , zoology , botany , fish <actinopterygii> , fishery , sociology
Sex change affects the sex ratios of plant populations and may play an essential role in the evolutionary shift of sexual systems. Sex change can be a strategy for increasing fitness over the lifetime of a plant, and plant size, environmental factors, and growth rate may affect sex change. We described frequent, repeated sex changes following various patterns in a subdioecious Eurya japonica population over five successive years. Of the individuals, 27.5% changed their sex at least once, and these changes were unidirectional or bidirectional. The sex ratio (females/males/all hermaphrodite types) did not fluctuate over the 5 years. In our study plots, although the current sex ratio among the sexes appears to be stable, the change in sex ratio may be slowly progressing toward increasing females and decreasing males. Sex was more likely to change with higher growth rates and more exposure to light throughout the year. Among individuals that changed sex, those that were less exposed to light in the leafy season and had less diameter growth tended to shift from hermaphrodite to a single sex. Therefore, sex change in E . japonica seemed to be explained by a response to the internal physiological condition of an individual mediated by intrinsic and abiotic environmental factors.