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Geographic range size is predicted by plant mating system
Author(s) -
Grossenbacher Dena,
Briscoe Runquist Ryan,
Goldberg Emma E.,
Brandvain Yaniv
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
ecology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.852
H-Index - 265
eISSN - 1461-0248
pISSN - 1461-023X
DOI - 10.1111/ele.12449
Subject(s) - selfing , range (aeronautics) , biology , ecology , trait , latitude , mating system , mating , reproduction , divergence (linguistics) , pollination , evolutionary biology , geography , demography , pollen , population , linguistics , philosophy , materials science , geodesy , sociology , programming language , computer science , composite material
Species' geographic ranges vary enormously, and even closest relatives may differ in range size by several orders of magnitude. With data from hundreds of species spanning 20 genera in 15 families, we show that plant species that autonomously reproduce via self‐pollination consistently have larger geographic ranges than their close relatives that generally require two parents for reproduction. Further analyses strongly implicate autonomous self‐fertilisation in causing this relationship, as it is not driven by traits such as polyploidy or annual life history whose evolution is sometimes correlated with selfing. Furthermore, we find that selfers occur at higher maximum latitudes and that disparity in range size between selfers and outcrossers increases with time since their evolutionary divergence. Together, these results show that autonomous reproduction—a critical biological trait that eliminates mate limitation and thus potentially increases the probability of establishment—increases range size.