Life history trade‐offs and evidence for hierarchical resource allocation in two monocarpic perennials

Abstract

The evolution of floral display is thought to be constrained by trade-offs between the size and number of flowers; however, empirical evidence for the trade-off is inconsistent. We examined evidence for trade-offs and hierarchical allocation of resources within and between two populations each of the monocarpic perennials, Cardiocrinum cordatum and C. giganteum. Within all populations, flower size-number trade-offs were evident after accounting for variation in plant size. In addition, variation in flower size explained much variation in flower-level allocation to attraction, and female and male function, a pattern consistent with hierarchical allocation. However, between population differences in flower size (C. cordatum) and number (C. giganteum) were not consistent with size-number trade-offs or hierarchical allocation. The population-level difference in C. cordatum likely reflects the combined influence of a time lag between initiation and maturation of flowers, and higher light levels in one population. Thus, our study highlights one mechanism that may account for the apparent independence of flower size and number in many studies. A prediction of sex allocation theory was also supported. In C. giganteum: plants from one population invested more mass in pistils and less in stamens than did plants from the other population. Detection of floral trade-offs in Cardiocrinum may be facilitated by monocarpic reproduction, production of a single inflorescence and ease of measuring plant size.

Similarity in G matrix structure among natural populations ofArabidopsis lyrata

“…). The lack of a negative correlation between number of flowers and flower size may also be due to positive correlations between each of the two traits, and module or plant size (Worley and Barrett , ; Lehtilä and Holmén‐Bränn ; Cao and Worley ).…”

“…This correlation could reflect genetic variation in resource acquisition (van Noordwijk and de Jong 1986;Björklund 2004) in the common-garden experiment, given that variation in resource capture can be inflated when genotypes are exposed to a novel environment (Service and Rose 1985;Conner et al 2003). The lack of a negative correlation between number of flowers and flower size may also be due to positive correlations between each of the two traits, and module or plant size Barrett 2000, 2001;Lehtilä and Holmén-Bränn 2007;Cao and Worley 2013).…”

Pollination Contribution Differs among Insects Visiting Cardiocrinum cordatum Flowers

“…glehni, is a forest perennial herb of East Asia [32,37,38]. Hermaphroditic flowers (Figure 1a-e) have six stamens and one pistil and are self-compatible [7,32,39]. Although their basic structure is similar to lily flowers (e.g., Lilium auratum Lindl.…”

Variation in reproductive modes and population genetic structures of a monocarpic perennial herb, Cardiocrinum cordatum, in relation to habitat fragmentation

“…; Koyama et al . ; Cao & Worley ), and the variations in spatiotemporal population genetic structure, because C. cordatum is a monocarpic perennial plant and depends on both sexual reproduction via seeds and vegetative reproduction via the formation of bulblets (Ohara et al . ).…”

“…Cardiocrinum cordatum is an interesting plant species in which to study the interactions between demographic and reproductive systems (Araki et al 2010;Koyama et al 2012;Cao & Worley 2013), and the variations in spatiotemporal population genetic structure, because C. cordatum is a monocarpic perennial plant and depends on both sexual reproduction via seeds and vegetative reproduction via the formation of bulblets . That is, plants reproduced vegetatively could occupy the space where the mother plants were because of monocarpy (Koyama et al 2012), and individuals that reproduced vegetatively will be important successors as a specific genotype for a local population.…”