Trade‐offs between sexual and clonal reproduction in an aquatic plant: experimental manipulations vs. phenotypic correlations

• Published in: Journal of Evolutionary Biology
• Main Authors: Thompson, F. L., Eckert, C. G.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2004
• Subjects: Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Butomus umbellatus
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1420-9101.2004.00701.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1420-9101.2004.00701.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1420-9101.2004.00701.x

Abstract That trade‐offs result from the allocation of limited resources is a central concept of life history evolution. We quantified trade‐offs between sexual and clonal reproduction in the aquatic plant, Butomus umbellatus , by experimentally manipulating sexual investment in two distinct nutrient environments. Increasing seed production caused a significant but nonlinear trade‐off. Pollinating half of all flowers strongly reduced clonal bulbil production, but pollinating the remaining flowers did not cause any further trade‐off. Trade‐offs were not stronger under low nutrient conditions that clearly limited plant growth. Experimentally induced trade‐offs were not reflected in negative phenotypic correlations between sexual and clonal allocation among plants within eight populations grown in a uniform greenhouse environment. Diminishing effects of increased sexual allocation plus a lack of accord between experimental manipulations and phenotypic correlations suggest that trade‐offs between sexual and clonal reproduction are unlikely to constrain the evolution of reproductive strategy in this species.