Sexual differences in gas exchange and response to environmental stress in dioecious Silene latifolia (Caryophyllaceae)

Females of dioecious species usually have higher reproductive effort than males because they produce fruits in addition to flowers. Since females have higher reproductive effort, they are expected to be more negatively affected than males by low resource availability. We tested that assumption by growing females and males of Silene latifolia under low levels of light, water, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Gas exchange of the sexes did not respond differently to low resource availability; higher female reproductive effort relative to males did not differentially affect their ability to assimilate carbon. However, male photosynthesis rates and stomatal conductances were slightly, but consistently, higher than those of females. The intersexual difference in photosynthesis rate may be a proximate result of reproduction if females translocate nutrients, particularly nitrogen, from their leaves to developing fruits. Alternatively (or perhaps additionally), higher male photosynthesis and stomatal conductances relative to females may be the ultimate result of sexual selection. This could be the case if 1) reproductive effort as estimated by biomass allocation is misleading and males actually invest more in reproduction than females, or 2) females experience stronger selection than males to conserve water late in the growing season, when soil moisture is likely to be low but females need to complete fruit maturation. Our results indicated that females had slightly lower leaf nitrogen but higher photosynthetic water‐use efficiency than males, so it is possible that both proximate and ultimate factors are operating simultaneously to cause lower female photosynthesis rates.