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Reproductive phenology and physiological traits in the red mangrove hybrid complex (Rhizophora mangle and R. racemosa) across a natural gradient of nutrients and salinity

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Abstract

Factors modulating introgressive hybridization between the red mangrove species Rhizophora mangle and R. racemosa in spatially defined sites are poorly understood. To investigate this, we evaluated the reproductive phenology and the nutrient and physiological traits in those two species and their F1 hybrids genotyped with microsatellite data across a natural hybrid zone from the Pacific coast of Panama. We found no evidence that reproductive phenology represents a barrier to gene flow, because R. mangle and the F1 hybrids produced flowers and propagules throughout the annual cycle, while R. racemosa flowered only in the dry season. Soil nutrient concentrations decreased landward, while soil salinity varied only slightly. Foliar nutrients and δ15N signatures varied according to the soil nutrient gradient, but only foliar phosphorus and carbon varied among species. In contrast, two structural variables (height and trunk diameter) and leaf variables related to salinity tolerance (Na, Cl:Na, K:Na, cation:anion) and water-use efficiency (i.e., δ13C) differed among species, suggesting higher salinity tolerance for R. mangle and F1 hybrids compared with R. racemosa. We conclude that parental species and F1 hybrids differ in salinity tolerance and water-use efficiency, which could be associated with adaptive evolution of the red mangrove hybrid complex.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by grants from the BBVA Foundation in Spain, Secretaria Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación—SENACYT (FID-0927) and Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute—STRI in Panama. The authors thank to Autoridad Nacional del Ambiente—ANAM in Panama for study permits and logistic support in the province of Anton-Cocle; J. Chavarría, G. Jaramillo, G.J. Jaramillo, L. Jaramillo, S. Martínez and L. Rodríguez for field assistance; D. Agudo for laboratory support; J. Touchon and S. Dennis for their suggestions in the statistical analysis and L. Santiago for his comments to improve the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Republic of Panama

    Ivania Cerón-Souza, Benjamin L. Turner, Klaus Winter & Eldredge Bermingham

  2. Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97331-2902, USA

    Ivania Cerón-Souza

  3. Centro de Ecología, IVIC, Apartado 21827, Caracas, 1020-A, Venezuela

    Ernesto Medina

  4. Real Jardín Botánico, CSIC, Plaza de Murillo 2, E-28014, Madrid, Spain

    Gonzalo N. Feliner

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  1. Ivania Cerón-Souza
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  2. Benjamin L. Turner
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  3. Klaus Winter
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  4. Ernesto Medina
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  5. Eldredge Bermingham
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  6. Gonzalo N. Feliner
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Correspondence to Ivania Cerón-Souza.

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Communicated by Siegy Krauss.

Electronic supplementary material

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Online Resource 1. Bayesian analysis using STRUCTURE software (PDF 104 kb)

11258_2014_315_MOESM2_ESM.pdf

Online Resource 2. The general linear model analysis of 14 soil variables in an intertidal zone of the Pacific coast of Panama where 90 Rhizophora individuals were distributed in a spatial zonation (PDF 133 kb)

Online Resource 3. Mean values of the analysis of variance for soil variables (PDF 114 kb)

11258_2014_315_MOESM4_ESM.pdf

Online Resource 4. The general linear model analysis of 19 foliar variables and two structural variables (i.e., DBH and Height) in 90 Rhizophora individuals from the Pacific coast of Panama (PDF 133 kb)

Online Resource 5. Mean values of the analysis of variance for leaf variables (PDF 130 kb)

Online Resource 6. Linear correlation analysis of soil nutrients and leaf variables (PDF 110 kb)

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Cerón-Souza, I., Turner, B.L., Winter, K. et al. Reproductive phenology and physiological traits in the red mangrove hybrid complex (Rhizophora mangle and R. racemosa) across a natural gradient of nutrients and salinity. Plant Ecol 215, 481–493 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-014-0315-1

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