Back to Search Start Over

Mating patterns and pollinator mobility are critical traits in forest fragmentation genetics.

Authors :
Breed MF
Ottewell KM
Gardner MG
Marklund MH
Dormontt EE
Lowe AJ
Source :
Heredity [Heredity (Edinb)] 2015 Aug; Vol. 115 (2), pp. 108-14. Date of Electronic Publication: 2013 Sep 04.
Publication Year :
2015

Abstract

Most woody plants are animal-pollinated, but the global problem of habitat fragmentation is changing the pollination dynamics. Consequently, the genetic diversity and fitness of the progeny of animal-pollinated woody plants sired in fragmented landscapes tend to decline due to shifts in plant-mating patterns (for example, reduced outcrossing rate, pollen diversity). However, the magnitude of this mating-pattern shift should theoretically be a function of pollinator mobility. We first test this hypothesis by exploring the mating patterns of three ecologically divergent eucalypts sampled across a habitat fragmentation gradient in southern Australia. We demonstrate increased selfing and decreased pollen diversity with increased fragmentation for two small-insect-pollinated eucalypts, but no such relationship for the mobile-bird-pollinated eucalypt. In a meta-analysis, we then show that fragmentation generally does increase selfing rates and decrease pollen diversity, and that more mobile pollinators tended to dampen these mating-pattern shifts. Together, our findings support the premise that variation in pollinator form contributes to the diversity of mating-pattern responses to habitat fragmentation.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
1365-2540
Volume :
115
Issue :
2
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
Heredity
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
24002239
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.2013.48