RT Journal Article
T1 Size Matters: Understanding the Conflict Faced by Large Flowers in Mediterranean Environments
A1 López Teixido, Alberto
A1 Barrio, Miguel
A1 Valladares, Fernando
AB Flower size is a key trait in the reproductive ecology of animal-pollinated plants. However, pollinator-mediated selection does not always modulate this trait and environmental conditions and/or antagonist interactions may favor smaller flowers. We evaluate the occurrence of a large-flowered family in a hot and dry Mediterranean environment, mediated by a cost-benefit balance and a male–female conflict. Large flowers have sizeable benefits in terms of pollination and reproductive success and pollinators mediate selection through male function, but female fitness is context-dependent. High floral production and maintenance costs and florivore incidence in large flowers limit female function, which counteracts pollinator-mediated selection. Large flowers are highly costly in the Mediterranean and flower size is mediated by a sexual conflict between the benefits of male function and the costs of the female one. However, a short floral longevity, occasional pollen limitation and selection through maleness keep the existence of large flowers in these environments.
PB Springer
SN 0006-8101
YR 2016
FD 2016
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/94475
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/94475
LA eng
NO Teixido, A.L., Barrio, M. & Valladares, F. Size Matters: Understanding the Conflict Faced by Large Flowers in Mediterranean Environments. Bot. Rev. 82, 204–228 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12229-016-9168-8
NO Acknowledgments. We thank A. Escudero, J.M. Iriondo, J. Arroyo, P. García-Fayos, A. Sánchez, A. Traveset, S. Karrenberg, J. Ågren, N. Sletvold, A.L. Parachnowitsch, C.M. Caruso, J. Herrera, J. Ollerton, J.F. Scheepens, J. Těšitel and M.A. Rodríguez-Gironés for the comments provided during the first versions of the manuscript. We are also grateful to Y. Valiñani and E. Galisteo for lab assistance and to J.P. González-Varo, J. Güemes, E. Carrió, E. Triano and R. Torices for collecting flower buds for analyses of floral production costs. J. Herrera kindly provided some data of flower size for several Mediterranean species.
DS Docta Complutense
RD 2 oct 2024