Abstract Detail

Sexual selection in flowering plants: traits, processes, and estimation

Kwok, Allison [1], Dorken, Marcel [2].

Measuring sexual selection in plant populations.

Measuring the magnitude of sexual selection in plant populations is complicated by the difficulties associated with quantifying mating success. Pollination is enacted by third parties and the fate of pollen grains after they have been deposited on stigmas is difficult to track. An indirect measure of sexual selection that accounts
for the degree to which mating opportunities in plants are monopolized by individuals of the sex that compete for mates has recently been proposed - the index of mate monopolization, m. Computer simulations and a small array experiment indicated that m scales with the magnitude of sexual selection but whether the measure is effective in natural populations is not clear. Because the value of m is based on measures of correlated paternity, spatially restricted pollen dispersal could erase the association between m and the magnitude of selection on traits affecting mating success. To test the effectiveness of m as a surrogate of the strength of selection on traits affecting mating success, s, we measured daily values of m from patterns of correlated paternity in two mapped populations of Sagittaria latifolia. We genotyped all flowering shoots in these populations and a subset of the seeds they produced using seven SSR loci. We also measured floral traits known to affect pollinator visitation in this plant. Using paternity analysis we estimated the magnitude of s on these floral traits and compared these estimates to our calculations of m.

1 - Trent Universitu, Biology, 1600 West Bank Drive, Peterborough, ON, K9J0G2, Canada
2 - Trent University, Biology, 1600 West Bank Drive, Peterborough, ON, K9J 0G2, Canada

Keywords:
none specified

Presentation Type: Colloquium Presentations
Session: CO08, Sexual Selection in Flowering Plants: Traits, Processes, and Estimation
Location: Tucson H/Starr Pass
Date: Tuesday, July 30th, 2019
Time: 4:15 PM
Number: CO08011
Abstract ID:184
Candidate for Awards:None