Ecology of Plant Reproduction: Mating Systems and Pollination

Plants are the foundation of the food web and therefore interact directly and indirectly with myriad organisms at higher trophic levels. They directly provide nourishment to mutualistic and antagonistic primary consumers (e.g., pollinators and herbivores), which in turn are consumed by predators. These interactions produce cascading indirect effects on plants (either trait-mediated or density-mediated). We review how predators affect plant-pollinator interactions and thus how predators indirectly affect plant reproduction, fitness, mating systems, and trait evolution. Predators can influence pollinator abundance and foraging behavior. In many cases, predators cause pollinators to visit plants less frequently and for shorter durations. This decline in visitation can lead to pollen limitation and decreased seed set. However, alternative outcomes can result due to differences in predator, pollinator, and plant functional traits as well as due to altered interaction networks with plant enemies. Furthermore, predators may indirectly affect the evolution of plant traits and mating systems.

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Effective plant reproduction of Pelargonium sidoides by using somatic embryogenesis

Planta Medica ◽

10.1055/s-0033-1351893 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 79 (13) ◽

Author(s):

S Duchow ◽

W Blaschek ◽

B Classen

Keyword(s):

Somatic Embryogenesis ◽

Plant Reproduction ◽

Pelargonium Sidoides

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Molecular and Cellular Plant Reproduction

10.3389/978-2-88945-211-8 ◽

2017 ◽

Keyword(s):

Plant Reproduction

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Faculty Opinions recommendation of Unidirectional evolutionary transitions in fungal mating systems and the role of transposable elements.

Faculty Opinions – Post-Publication Peer Review of the Biomedical Literature ◽

10.3410/f.718213354.793488874 ◽

2013 ◽

Author(s):

Joseph Heitman

Keyword(s):

Transposable Elements ◽

Mating Systems ◽

Evolutionary Transitions ◽

Fungal Mating

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Faculty Opinions recommendation of Phytoplasma effector SAP54 hijacks plant reproduction by degrading MADS-box proteins and promotes insect colonization in a RAD23-dependent manner.

Faculty Opinions – Post-Publication Peer Review of the Biomedical Literature ◽

10.3410/f.718344022.793493757 ◽

2014 ◽

Author(s):

David Triggle

Keyword(s):

Plant Reproduction ◽

Dependent Manner ◽

Mads Box

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Modified rescue and risk expectations for species with diverse mating systems and modes of inheritance

10.1093/oso/9780198783398.003.0008 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Richard Frankham ◽

Jonathan D. Ballou ◽

Katherine Ralls ◽

Mark D. B. Eldridge ◽

Michele R. Dudash ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mating Systems ◽

Outbreeding Depression ◽

Mixed Mating ◽

Genetic Rescue ◽

Mode Of Inheritance

The risks of inbreeding and outbreeding depression, and the prospects for genetic rescue are often different in species with alternative mating systems and mode of inheritance (compared to outbreeding diploids), such as self-incompatible, self-fertilizing, mixed mating, non-diploid (haploid, haplodiploid and polyploid) and asexual.

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Reproductive behavior

10.1093/oso/9780198797500.003.0013 ◽

2018 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Rachel Olzer ◽

Rebecca L. Ehrlich ◽

Justa L. Heinen-Kay ◽

Jessie Tanner ◽

Marlene Zuk

Keyword(s):

Sexual Selection ◽

Sexual Conflict ◽

Female Choice ◽

Reproductive Behavior ◽

Mating Systems ◽

Insect Behavior ◽

Sequential Approach ◽

Evolutionary Mechanisms ◽

Anatomy And Physiology ◽

Males And Females

Sex and reproduction lie at the heart of studies of insect behavior. We begin by providing a brief overview of insect anatomy and physiology, followed by an introduction to the overarching themes of parental investment, sexual selection, and mating systems. We then take a sequential approach to illustrate the diversity of phenomena and concepts behind insect reproductive behavior from pre-copulatory mate signalling through copulatory sperm transfer, mating positions, and sexual conflict, to post-copulatory sperm competition, and cryptic female choice. We provide an overview of the evolutionary mechanisms driving reproductive behavior. These events are linked by the economic defendability of mates or resources, and how these are allocated in each sex. Under the framework of economic defendability, the reader can better understand how sexual antagonistic behaviors arise as the result of competing optimal fitness strategies between males and females.

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