Effects of fruit dimorphism on genetic structure and gene flow in the coastal shrub Scaevola taccada.

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

Plant propagules often possess specialized morphologies that facilitate dispersal across specific landscapes. In the fruit dimorphism of a coastal shrub, Scaevola taccada, individual plants produce either cork-morph or pulp-morph fruits. The former is buoyant and common on sandy beaches, whereas the latter does not float, is bird-dispersed, and is common on elevated sites such as slopes on sea cliffs and behind rocky shores. We hypothesized that beach populations bridge the heterogeneous landscapes by serving as a source of both fruit types, while dispersal is biased for the pulp morph on elevated sites within the islands and for the cork morph between beaches of different islands. Based on this hypothesis, we predicted that populations in elevated sites would d

SUBMITTER: Emura N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9851332 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature