Evol Ecol Res 8: 829-842 (2006)     Full PDF if your library subscribes.

Sex allocation bias in hermaphroditic plants: effects of local competition and seed dormancy

Takashi Tsuchimatsu,¹* Satoki Sakai² and Motomi Ito¹

¹Department of General Systems Studies, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 153-8902 and  ²Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, Aoba, Sendai 980-8578, Japan

Author to whom all correspondence should be addressed.
e-mail: t-tsu3@dolphin.c.u-tokyo.ac.jp

ABSTRACT

Questions: Does temporal dispersal, such as seed dormancy, affect evolutionarily stable sex allocation? If so, how does the spatial dispersal of pollen and seed interact with seed dormancy and how do the effects of spatial and temporal dispersal on ESS (evolutionarily stable state) sex allocation differ?

Features of model: We developed a Monte-Carlo computer simulation model and predicted ESS sex allocation. This model considered: an annual diploid-hermaphrodite population that was subdivided into a large number of patches; the spatial dispersal of seeds and pollen grains and the temporal dispersal of seeds (i.e. seed dormancy); and local mate competition among pollen grains and local resource competition among seeds.

Predictions: Seed dormancy can affect ESS sex allocation: as the seed dormancy rate increases, ESS sex allocation will become female-biased. However, its effect will be significant when the seed dispersal rate is low: the effects of seed dormancy and seed spatial dispersal interact negatively with each other. Seed spatial dispersal will have a stronger effect on ESS sex allocation than seed dormancy, but this difference will decrease as the pollen dispersal rate increases.

Keywords: dispersal, dormancy, hermaphroditic plants, local mate competition, local resource competition, sex allocation.

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