Abstract
In dioecious species, females usually have higher sex-related costs than males. Consequently, trade-offs involving survival, growth, and reproduction are expected to differ between sexes. Here, we investigate several aspects of sex-related costs to test whether they are higher for females than males of a widely distributed, locally abundant, dioecious tropical forest tree species. For this, every adult of Mollinedia schottiana (Spreng.) Perkins (Monimiaceae) had its stem diameter at soil height (DSH) and spatial location measured in two 1-ha plots located at the Atlantic Rainforest, SE Brazil. Flowering phenology was also recorded over 12 months. At a second population census, the surviving individuals from the first census had their DSH remeasured. In comparison to males, females did not flower less frequently, less intensely, or in a lower proportion over 12 months. They also did not grow less between censuses, have larger DSH, or show spatial segregation from males. However, sex ratio was male biased, which, together with floral biology, is likely a strategy of M. schottiana to pollination by thrips. This study shows that dioecious species do not necessarily have differential sex-related costs as expected by the higher investment in reproductive structures by females. Sex ratios, which are often interpreted as a result of sex-related costs, can be driven by the reproductive biology of plant species.
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Acknowledgements
We thank RA Montgomery, AS Penha, RAG Viani, and an anonymous reviewer for their valuable comments; ER Forni-Martins and K Agostini for their insights on plant reproductive biology; KFO Ribeiro for help with spatial point pattern analysis. This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brasil (CAPES)—Finance Code 001 (data collection by LBG Rosa), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)—PhD scholarship to VF Martins (142295/2006-0) and Edital Universal (459941/2014-3), and grant #2003/12595-7, São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP).
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Martins, V.F., Bispo, R.L.B. & de Paula Loiola, P. A case of gender equality: absence of sex-related costs in a dioecious tropical forest tree species. Plant Ecol 222, 275–288 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-020-01105-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-020-01105-1