Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08903-0231.
Am J Bot. 1999 Feb;86(2):278-86.
Relative allocation of resources to growth vs. reproduction has long been known to be an important determinant of reproductive success. The importance of variation in allocation to different structures within reproductive allocation is somewhat less clear. This study was designed to elucidate the importance of allocation to vegetative vs. reproductive functions, and allocation within reproductive functions (sex allocation), to realized female success in an andromonoecious plant, Solanum carolinense. Allocation measurements were taken on plants in experimental arrays exposed to natural pollination conditions. These measurements included total flower number, the proportion of flowers that were male, flower size, and vegetative size. Flower number explained the majority of the variation among individuals in their success-that is, there was strong selection for increased flower production. There was also selection to decrease the proportion of flowers that were male, but neither flower size nor vegetative size (a measure of overall resource availability) were direct determinants of female success. After Bonferroni corrections for multiple comparisons, most phenotypic correlations among the traits measured were nonsignificant. Thus, in this andromonoecious species there is not a strong relationship between resource availability (vegetative size) and female success, and female success is instead determined by the relative production of the two different flower types.
长期以来，资源在生长和繁殖之间的相对分配一直被认为是生殖成功的重要决定因素。在生殖分配中，不同结构之间的分配变化的重要性则不那么明显。本研究旨在阐明在雌雄同体植物 Solanum carolinense 中，分配给营养生长和生殖功能，以及生殖功能内（性别分配）的重要性，以了解实现雌性成功的重要性。在暴露于自然授粉条件的实验群体中，对植物进行了分配测量。这些测量包括总花数、雄性花的比例、花的大小和营养生长的大小。花数解释了个体成功的大多数变异——也就是说，对增加花产量有强烈的选择。还有选择减少雄性花的比例，但花的大小和营养生长的大小（衡量整体资源可用性）都不是雌性成功的直接决定因素。在对多个比较进行 Bonferroni 校正后，测量的特征之间的大多数表型相关性都没有意义。因此，在这个雌雄同体的物种中，资源可用性（营养生长的大小）和雌性成功之间没有很强的关系，而雌性成功则取决于两种不同花型的相对产量。
