Herbivory Differentially Affects Male and Female Reproductive Traits of Cucumis sativus

V. P. Thomson; A. B. Nicotra; S. A. Cunningham

doi:10.1055/s-2004-821236

Plant Biology, Table of Contents

Plant Biol (Stuttg) 2004; 6(5): 621-628
DOI: 10.1055/s-2004-821236

Original Paper

Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart KG · New York

Herbivory Differentially Affects Male and Female Reproductive Traits of Cucumis sativus

V. P. Thomson¹ , A. B. Nicotra¹ , S. A. Cunningham²

¹School of Botany and Zoology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 0200, Australia
²CSIRO Entomology, GPO Box 1700, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia

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.

Key words

Pollination - plant-animal interactions - floral characteristics - reproductive allocation.

Full Text

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V. P. Thomson

School of Botany and Zoology
Australian National University

Canberra, ACT, 0200

Australia

Email: vpthomson@hotmail.com

Section Editor: C. M. J. Pieterse