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MUTUALISTS AND ANTAGONISTS MEDIATE FREQUENCY‐DEPENDENT SELECTION ON FLORAL DISPLAY
Author(s) -
Toräng Per,
Ehrlén Johan,
Ågren Jon
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.144
H-Index - 294
eISSN - 1939-9170
pISSN - 0012-9658
DOI - 10.1890/07-1283.1
Subject(s) - biology , frequency dependent selection , selection (genetic algorithm) , pollination , natural selection , ecology , inflorescence , predation , evolutionary biology , pollen , artificial intelligence , computer science
Theory predicts that, with conflicting selection pressures mediated by mutualists and antagonists, alternative reproductive strategies can be maintained by negative frequency‐dependent selection if it results in rare‐morph advantage. We combined field experiments and surveys of natural populations to determine whether selection on floral display is frequency dependent in the self‐incompatible herb Primula farinosa , which is polymorphic for inflorescence height and occurs in a short‐scaped and a long‐scaped morph. Among short‐scaped plants, both pollination success, quantified as initiation of fruits and seeds, and seed predation were positively correlated with the relative frequency of the long‐scaped morph. The relative strength of these effects and the direction of the resulting frequency‐dependent selection on scape morph varied among years and populations. The results suggest that both mutualists and antagonists may mediate frequency‐dependent selection and that frequency dependence may vary from positive to negative with rare‐morph advantage, depending on the relative strength of these interactions.