Herbivory Differentially Affects Male and Female Reproductive Traits of Cucumis sativus
Date
2004
Authors
Thomson, V
Nicotra, Adrienne
Cunningham, Saul
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Georg Thieme Verlag
Abstract
Herbivory is an important selection pressure in the life history of plants. Most studies use seed or fruit production as an indication of plant fitness, but the impact of herbivory on male reproductive success is usually ignored. It is possible that plants compensate for resources lost to herbivory by shifting the allocation from seed production to pollen production and export, or vice versa. This study examined the impact of herbivory by Helix aspersa on both male and female reproductive traits of a monoecious plant, Cucumis sativus. The effects of herbivory on the relative allocation to male and female flowers were assessed through measurements of the number and size of flowers of both sexes, and the amount of pollinator visitation. We performed two glasshouse experiments; the first looked at the impact of three levels of pre-flowering herbivory, and the second looked at four levels of herbivory after the plants had started to flower. We found that herbivory during the flowering phase led to a significant increase in the number of plants without male flowers. As a consequence there was significantly less pollen export from this population, as estimated by movement of a pollen analog. The size of female flowers was reduced by severe herbivory, but there was no affect on pollen receipt by the female flowers of damaged plants. The decrease in allocation to male function after severe herbivory may be adaptive when male reproductive success is very unpredictable.
Description
Keywords
Keywords: plant-herbivore interaction; pollination; reproductive success; resource allocation; seed production; sex-related difference; animal; article; cucumber; diet; flower; genetics; physiology; pollen; reproduction; snail; Animals; Cucumis sativus; Diet; Flowe Floral characteristics; Plant-animal interactions; Pollination; Reproductive allocation
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Source
Plant Biology
Type
Journal article