Costs of female reproduction in a conifer tree: a whole-tree level assessment

Details

Serval ID
serval:BIB_F1D82CA8058D
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Costs of female reproduction in a conifer tree: a whole-tree level assessment
Journal
Journal of Ecology
Author(s)
Santos del Blanco L., Climent J.
ISSN
1365-2745 (electronic)
ISSN-L
0022-0477
Publication state
Published
Issued date
2014
Volume
102
Number
5
Pages
1310-1317
Language
english
Abstract
1. Costs of reproduction lie at the core of basic ecological and evolutionary theories, and their existence is commonly invoked to explain adaptive processes. Despite their sheer importance, empirical evidence for the existence and quantification of costs of reproduction in tree species comes mostly from correlational studies, while more comprehensive approaches remain missing. Manipulative experiments are a preferred approach to study cost of reproduction, as they allow controlling for otherwise inherent confounding factors like size or genetic background.
2. Here, we conducted a manipulative experiment in a Pinus halepensis common garden, removing developing cones from a group of trees and comparing growth and reproduction after treatment with a control group. We also estimated phenotypic and genetic correlations between reproductive and vegetative traits.
3. Manipulated trees grew slightly more than control trees just after treatment, with just a transient, marginally non-significant difference. By contrast, larger differences were observed for the number of female cones initiated 1 year after treatment, with an increase of 70% more cones in the manipulated group. Phenotypic and genetic correlations showed that smaller trees invested a higher proportion of their resources in reproduction, compared with larger trees, which could be interpreted as an indirect evidence for costs of reproduction.
4. Synthesis. This research showed a high impact of current reproduction on reproductive potential, even when not significant on vegetative growth. This has strong implications for how we understand adaptive strategies in forest trees and should encourage further interest on their still poorly known reproductive life-history traits.
Keywords
costs of reproduction, manipulative experiment, plant development and life-history traits, reproduction, trade-off, vegetative growth
Web of science
Create date
18/09/2014 9:12
Last modification date
20/08/2019 16:19
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