Higher levels of multiple paternities increase seedling survival in the long-lived tree Eucalyptus gracilis.

ABSTRACT: Studying associations between mating system parameters and fitness in natural populations of trees advances our understanding of how local environments affect seed quality, and thereby helps to predict when inbreeding or multiple paternities should impact on fitness. Indeed, for species that demonstrate inbreeding avoidance, multiple paternities (i.e. the number of male parents per half-sib family) should still vary and regulate fitness more than inbreeding--named here as the 'constrained inbreeding hypothesis'. We test this hypothesis in Eucalyptus gracilis, a predominantly insect-pollinated tree. Fifty-eight open-pollinated progeny arrays were collected from trees in three populations. Progeny were planted in a reciprocal transplant trial. Fitness was measured by family establishment rat

SUBMITTER: Breed MF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3938745 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature