Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Does plant allometry predict biased sex allocation in Triadica sebifera (L.) small (Euphorbiaceae)?

  • Published:
Plant Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Early seed production by non-native plants may be important to their successful establishment and spread. Understanding the mechanisms underlying age- or size-biased seed production in introduced plants may also identify factors that contribute to propagule pressure and their success as invaders. Here, we asked whether differences in male and female reproductive allocation among individuals of the invasive woody plant species Triadica sebifera (L.) Small (Euphorbiaceae), a monoecious prolific seed producer, were consistent with a life-history trade-off involving sex allocation. We also asked if the quality of seeds produced by trees of different size differed in terms of seed size and germinability. We found no evidence that biomass allocation to either male or female function was related to plant size. Trees varied in ratio of female:male investment from 0.6 to 15.8, but investment ratio was also unrelated to plant size. We also found no relationship between plant size and seed size or mean germination time, and a weak negative relationship between percent seed germination and plant size. Overall, the results do not support the idea that patterns of reproductive sex allocation are the result of a life-history trade-off and are instead most consistent with local resource tracking by individual trees.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aarssen LW (2008) Death without sex—the ‘problem of the small’ and selection for reproductive economy in flowering plants. Evol Ecol 22:279–298

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bell G, Koufopanou V (1986) The cost of reproduction. Oxf Surv Evol Biol 3:83–131

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonser SP, Aarssen LW (1996) Meristem allocation: a new classification theory for adaptive strategies in herbaceous plants. Oikos 77:347–352

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burd M, Allen TFH (1988) Sexual allocation strategy in wind-pollinated plants. Evolution 42:403–407

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Burke MJ, Grime J (1996) An experimental study of plant community invasibility. Ecology 77:776–790

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burns JH, Pardini EA, Schutzenhofer MR, Chung YA, Seidler KJ, Knight TM (2013) Greater sexual reproduction contributes to differences in demography of invasive plants and their noninvasive relatives. Ecology 94:995–1004

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell DR (2000) Experimental tests of sex-allocation theory in plants. Trends Ecol Evol 15:227–232

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Charnov EL (1982) The theory of sex allocation. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Charnov EL, Bull J (1977) When is sex environmentally determined? Nature 266:828–830

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • de Jong TJ, Klinkhamer PGL (2005) Evolutionary ecology of plant reproductive strategies. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • DeWalt SJ, Siemann E, Rogers WE (2011) Geographic distribution of genetic variation among native and introduced populations of Chinese tallow tree, Triadica sebifera (Euphorbiaceae). Am J Bot 98(7):1128–1138

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dorken ME, Pannell JR (2008) Density-dependent regulation of the sex ratio in an annual plant. Am Nat 171:828–830

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fox J (1993) Size and sex allocation in monoecious woody plants. Oecology 94:110–113

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freeman DC, Klikoff LG, Harper KT (1976) Differential resource utilization by the sexes of dioecious plants. Science 193:597–599

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Freeman DC, Harper KT, Charnov EL (1980) Sex change in plants: old and new observations and new hypotheses. Oecology 47:222–232

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Freeman DC, McArthur ED, Harper KT, Blauer AC (1981) Influence of environment on the floral sex ratio of monoecious plants. Evolution 35:194–197

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gabler CA, Siemann E (2013) Timing of favorable conditions, competition, and fertility interact to govern recruitment of invasive Chinese tallow tree in stressful environments. PLoS ONE 8:e71446

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Godfrey RK, Wooten JW (1981) Aquatic and wetland plants of the southeastern United States. University of Georgia Press, Athens, p 933

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang W, Carrillo J, Ding J, Siemann E (2012) Invader partitions ecological and evolutionary responses to above- and belowground herbivory. Ecology 93:2343–2352

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Iwasa Y (1991) Sex change evolution and cost of reproduction. Behav Ecol 2:56–68

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klinkhamer PGL, de Jong T, de Bruyn G (1989) Plant size and pollinator visitation in Cynoglossum officinale. Oikos 51:201–204

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klinkhamer PGL, de Jong T, Metz H (1997) Sex and size in cosexual plants. Trends Ecol Evol 12:260–265

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Knops J, Koenig W (2012) Sex Allocation in California Oaks: trade-offs or resource tracking? PLoS ONE 7:e43492

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Kolar CS, Lodge D (2001) Progress in invasion biology: predicting invaders. Trends Ecol Evol 16:199–204

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lloyd DG, Bawa KS (1984) Modification of the gender of seed plants in varying conditions. Evol Biol 17:255–338

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lobo JA, Ramos DDL, Braga AC (2016) Visitation rate of pollinators and nectar robbers to the flowers and inflorescences of Tabebuia aurea (Bignoniaceae): effects of floral display size and habitat fragmentation. Biol J Linn Soc 181:667–681

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKone MJ (1990) Characteristics of pollen production in a population of New Zealand snow-tussock grass (Chionochloa pallens Zotov). New Phytol 116:555–562

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meyer R (2011) Triadica sebifera. In: Fire Effects Information System. US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory, https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/. Accessed 25 January 2017

  • Ne’eman G, Goubitz S, Werger M, Shmida A (2011) Relationships between tree size, crown shape, gender segregation, and sex allocation in Pinus halepensis, a Mediterranean pine tree. Ann Bot 108:197–206

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Obeso J (2002) The cost of reproduction in plants. New Phytol 155:321–348

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • R Core Team (2017) R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. https://www.R-project.org/.

  • Radford AE, Ahles HE, Bell CR (1968) Manual of the vascular flora of the Carolinas. The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, p 1183

    Google Scholar 

  • Rejmanek M, Richardson DM (1996) What attributes make some plant species more invasive? Ecology 77:1655–1661

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Renne IJ, Gauthreaux SA, Gresham CA (2000) Seed dispersal of the Chinese tallow tree (Sapium sebiferum (L.) Roxb.) by birds in coastal South Carolina. Am Midl Nat 144:202–215

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reznick D (1985) Costs of reproduction: an evaluation of the empirical evidence. Oikos 44:257–267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scheld HW, Cowles JR, Engler CR, Kleiman R, Shultz EB Jr (1984) Seeds of Chinese tallow tree as a source of chemicals and fuels. In: Shultz EB Jr, Morgan RP (eds) Fuels and chemicals from oil seeds: Technology and policy options: Symposium proceedings; 1982 January 3-8; Washington, DC. AAAS Selected Symposia Series 91. Westview Press. Boulder, Colorado, pp 97-111

  • Siemann E, Rogers WE (2003b) Herbivory, disease, and recruitment limitation, and success of alien and native tree species. Ecology 84:1489–1505

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Silvertown J, Dodd M (1999) The demographic cost of reproduction and its consequences in balsam fir (Abies balsamea). Am Nat 154:321–332

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Solbrig OT (1981) Studies on the population biology of the genus Viola. II. The effect of plant size on fitness in Viola sororia. Evolution 35:1080–1093

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stearns S (1992) The evolution of life histories. Oxford University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomas SC (2011) Age-related changes in tree growth and functional biology: the role of reproduction. In: Meinzer FC, Lachenbruch B, Dawson TE (eds) Size- and age-related changes in tree structure and function. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 33–64

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Tian N, Fan Z, Matney TG, Schultz EB (2017) Growth and stem profiles of invasive Triadica sebifera in the Mississippi Coast of the United States. For Sci 63(6):569–576

    Google Scholar 

  • Tracey AJ, Aarssen LW (2011) Competition and body size in plants: the between-species trade- off for maximum potential versus minimum reproductive threshold size. J Plant Ecol 4(3):115–122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vega-Frutis R, Marcías-Ordóñez R, Guevara R, Fromhage L (2014) Sex change in plants and animals: a unified perspective. J Evol Biol 27:667–675

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Warton DI, Hui FKC (2011) The arcsine is asinine: the analysis of proportions in ecology. Ecology 92:3–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Web Soil Survey (2016) Soil Survey Staff, Natural Resources Conservation Service, United States Department of Agriculture. https://websoilsurvey.sc.egov.usda.gov/. Accessed 18 Dec 2016

  • Weiner J, Rosenmeier L, Massoni ES, Vera JN, Hernández Plaza E, Sebastià MT (2009) Is reproductive allocation in Senecio vulgaris plastic? Botany 87:475–481

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • West SA (2009) Sex Allocation. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Wharton DI, Duursma RA, Falster DS, Taskinen S (2012) smatr 3—an R package for estimation and inference about allometric lines. Methods Ecol Evol 3(2):257–259

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Willson MF, Price PW (1977) Evolution of inflorescence size in Asclepias (Asclepiadaceae). Evolution 31:4956–5511

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang Q, Li B, Siemann E (2014) Positive and negative biotic interactions and invasive Triadica sebifera tolerance to salinity: a cross-continent comparative study. Oikos 124:216–224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang L, Zhang Y, Wang H, Zou J, Siemann E (2013) Chinese tallow trees (Triadica sebifera) from the invasive range outperform those from the native range with an active soil community or phosphorus fertilization. PLoS ONE 8:e74233

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Zou J, Rogers WE, DeWalt SJ, Siemann E (2006) The effect of Chinese tallow tree (Sapium sebiferum) ecotype on soil-plant system carbon and nitrogen processes. Oecol 150:272–281

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge Dawn Dawson and Jackie Bee Investments, LLC (Boutte), Katie Brasted at The Woodlands Conservancy (Belle Chasse), and Dominick Impastato (Kenner) for allowing land access to the field study sites used for this research. We also thank Brett Babin for his dedicated field assistance during the entire course of this study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, The University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA, 70148, USA

    Courtney H. Babin & Jerome J. Howard

Authors
  1. Courtney H. Babin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jerome J. Howard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Courtney H. Babin.

Additional information

Communicated by Claus Holzapfel.

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Babin, C.H., Howard, J.J. Does plant allometry predict biased sex allocation in Triadica sebifera (L.) small (Euphorbiaceae)?. Plant Ecol 220, 529–539 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-019-00933-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-019-00933-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation