Sex in advertising: dioecy alters the net benefits of attractiveness in Sagittaria latifolia (Alismataceae).

ABSTRACT: The flowers and inflorescences of animal-pollinated dioecious plants are generally small and inconspicuous in comparison with outcrossing cosexual species. The net benefits of an attractive floral display may be different for dioecious compared to cosexual populations because dioecious species experience a more severe reduction in pollen delivery when pollinators forage longer on fewer individuals. Here, we develop a model that predicts the decrease in pollen delivery in dioecious relative to cosexual populations from female-female, female-male and male-male visit sequences as the number of individuals visited varies. To evaluate the predictions of our model we conducted a common garden experiment with dioecious and monoecious (cosexual) arrays of the insect-pollinated herb Sagittaria lati

SUBMITTER: Vamosi JC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1636096 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature