Spatial Segregation of the Sexes of Dioecious Plants

Bierzychudek, Paulette; Eckhart, Vincent M.

doi:10.1086/284836

Cited by 303 publications

(272 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…White poplar, which regeneration strategy is intimately connected with flood disturbance which forms fresh, open, and bare new alluvial deposits, rarely regenerates within the study site due to lack of suitable edaphic and hydrological conditions (personal observations). Sex-specific cost of reproduction and differential resources requirements may lead to occupation of different microhabitats by each sex which directly refers to SSS (Bierzychudek and Eckhart 1988;Van Drunen and Dorken 2014). Recently, Van Drunen and Dorken (2014) reported that SSS may be common among clonal species.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…No doubt all of these life-history traits may have an impact on population dynamics and demography which are closely related with fine-scale SGS. Additionally, spatial segregation of sexes (SSS) that is reported among dioecious species and leads to occupation of different microhabitats (Bierzychudek and Eckhart 1988;Sanchez-Vilas et al 2012) may also contribute to divergent trajectories of demogenetic processes acting in patches occupied by males or females, respectively. One of the mechanisms of SSS is differential resources acquisition by sexes due to differential costs of reproduction incurred by the sexes (Bierzychudek and Eckhart 1988).…”

Section: Communicated By P Ingvarssonmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sex-specific pattern of spatial genetic structure in dioecious and clonal tree species, Populus alba L.

Dering

Rączka

Szmyt

2016

Tree Genetics & Genomes

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Fine-scale spatial genetic structure (SGS) has profound ecological and genetic consequences for plant populations, and some studies indicate that clonal reproduction may significantly enhance SGS. Clonality is widespread among dioecious species, but little is known about the relationship between clonal reproduction and SGS in the frame of sexual dimorphism. We asked the following questions: (1) Is there a sexually dependent pattern of SGS in white poplar population? (2) What is the relationship between clonal reproduction and SGS? and (3) Does this relationship have a sex-specific component? Using 16 microsatellite markers, genetic structure including fine-scale SGS and clonality of females and males of white poplar were investigated. Significant SGS was noted for both sexes at the ramet and genet levels. At the genet level, males had 2.7-fold higher SGS than that of females. Clonality significantly contributed to SGS only in females. A sibship structure revealed with pedigree analysis and clustering-based methods among males was likely the major factor of the observed SGS. The sexes differed in their clonal growth strategies. Spatial positioning of ramets in female clones suggested foraging behavior and/or avoidance of competition, while for male clones it indicated more expansion and space colonization. The obtained results led us to conclude that sexual dimorphism in life history traits may affect the course and rate of demo-genetic processes acting in natural populations of dioecious species. To our knowledge, this is the first study demonstrating a sex-specific pattern of SGS in natural populations of dioecious species.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Communicated By P Ingvarssonmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex-specific pattern of spatial genetic structure in dioecious and clonal tree species, Populus alba L.

Dering

Rączka

Szmyt

2016

Tree Genetics & Genomes

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“…in arctic Canada (Dawson and Bliss 1989) and in S. glauca L. in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, US (Dudley 2006) with, in both cases, female plants more common in wetter sites and males in drier sites. Females have been found on more nutrient-rich sites than males (Bierzychudek and Eckhart 1988) and on sites with lower soil temperatures (Dawson and Bliss 1989). Other studies do not find SSS, for example Gamache and Houle (1997) studying S. planifolia in sub-arctic Canada and Ueno et al (2007) studying S. sachalinensis in northern Japan.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…In dioecious species males and females have been found to make different use of environmental resources because the timing, duration and amount of energy that they invest in reproduction are different (Leigh and Nicotra 2002;Ward et al 2002;Ueno et al 2006). This differential resource use can result in spatial segregation of the sexes (SSS after Bierzychudek and Eckhart 1988) which reduces intra-specific competition (Onyekwelu and Harper 1979;Waser 1984;Comtois et al 1986;Alliende and Harper 1989;Turcotte and Houle 1997). It is also possible that intra-specific competition is a contributory cause of SSS because one sex may out-compete the other if it is better adapted to make efficient use of the available resources in a given location (Hultine et al 2007a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of hydrological regimes on sex ratios and spatial segregation of the sexes in two dioecious riparian shrub species in northern Sweden

et al. 2009

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River management practices have altered the hydrological regimes of many rivers and also altered the availability of regeneration niches for riparian species. We investigated the impact of changed hydrological regimes on the sex ratios and the Spatial Segregation of the Sexes (SSS) in the dioecious species Salix myrsinifolia Salisb.-phylicifolia L. and S. lapponum L.by studying the free-flowing Vindel River and the regulated Ume River in northern Sweden.We surveyed sex ratios of these species in 12 river reaches on the Vindel River and in 17 reaches on the Ume River. In addition we surveyed the sex and location above mean river stage of 1002 individuals across both river systems to investigate the SSS of both species.Cuttings were collected from male and female individuals of S. myrsinifolia-phylicifolia from both rivers and subjected to four different water table regimes in a greenhouse experiment to investigate growth response between the sexes. We found an M/F sex ratio in both river systems similar to the regional norm of 0.62 for S. myrsinifolia-phylicifolia and of 0.42 for S.lapponum. We found no evidence of SSS in either the free-flowing Vindel River or the regulated Ume River. In the greenhouse experiment, hydrological regime had a significant effect on shoot and root dry weight and on root length. Significantly higher shoot dry weights were found in females than in males and significantly different shoot and root dry weights were found between cuttings taken from the two rivers. We concluded that changed hydrological regimes are likely to alter dimensions of the regeneration niche and therefore to influence sex ratios and SSS at an early successional stage, making it difficult to find clear spatial patterns once these species reach maturity and can be sexed.2

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“…Bierzychudek and Eckhart 1988), our results from the random point process analysis revealed that female and male A. dioica were mostly randomly distributed within the study plots. SSS can be generated in a variety of ways including sex-associated differential germination, mortality associated with flowering, and sexchange patterns (Freeman et al 1976;Freeman and McArthur 1984;Bierzychudek and Eckhart 1988). In addition, this segregation could be a consequence of intrasexual competition.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 59%

Sex ratio and spatial distribution of male and female Antennaria dioica (Asteraceae) plants

Varga

Kytöviita

2011

Acta Oecologica

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Sex ratio, sex spatial distribution and sexual dimorphism in reproduction and arbuscular mycorrhizal colonisation were investigated in the dioecious clonal plant Antennaria dioica (Asteraceae). Plants were monitored for five consecutive years in six study plots in Oulanka, northern Finland. Sex ratio, spatial distribution of sexes, flowering frequency, number of floral shoots and the number and weight of inflorescences were recorded. In addition, intensity of mycorrhizal fungi in the roots was assessed. Both sexes flowered each year with a similar frequency, but the overall genet sex ratio was strongly female-biased. The bivariate Ripley's analysis of the sex distribution showed that within most plots sexes were randomly distributed except for one plot. Sexual dimorphism was expressed as larger floral and inflorescence production and heavier inflorescences in males. In addition, the roots of both sexes were colonised to a similar extent by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. The female sex-biased flowering ratios reported are not consistent among years and cannot be explained in terms of spatial segregation of the sexes or sex lability. The possible reasons for the female-biased sex ratio are discussed.

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Spatial Segregation of the Sexes of Dioecious Plants

Cited by 303 publications

References 36 publications

Sex-specific pattern of spatial genetic structure in dioecious and clonal tree species, Populus alba L.

Sex-specific pattern of spatial genetic structure in dioecious and clonal tree species, Populus alba L.

The influence of hydrological regimes on sex ratios and spatial segregation of the sexes in two dioecious riparian shrub species in northern Sweden

Sex ratio and spatial distribution of male and female Antennaria dioica (Asteraceae) plants

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