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Variation in floral sex allocation, female success, and seed predation within racemiform synflorescence in the gynomonoecious Ligularia virgaurea (Asteraceae)

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Abstract

Studies of diclinous species have showed that floral sex allocation and female reproductive success were quite variable within inflorescences. However, little attention has been paid to gynomonoecious species, in which individuals produce both female and bisexual flowers. The purpose of this study was to investigate the variations in reproductive patterns at different capitulum positions within racemiform synflorescence in Ligularia virgaurea, and to determine selective mechanisms of variations in reproductive patterns. We conducted observational and experimental studies in natural populations of the gynomonoecious composite L. virgaurea. Floral sex allocation, seed production and pre-dispersal seed predation were quantified in the field. The results showed several patterns of variation from top to bottom capitula, including an increase in bisexual flowers and flower number per capitulum, but a decrease in seed set and size. Removing earlier capitula during bud stage did not change floral sex allocation in later capitula. And no effect was found on seed set under supplemental pollination. Thus, although it has been reported many times in previous studies, the variation of floral sex allocation in L. virgaurea may not result from architectural effect or mating environment, and the variation of seed production could not be fully explained by pollination success. Additionally, our results showed that L. virgaurea was susceptible to high levels of bisexual biased predation, which was greater for top capitula. We therefore suggest that these variations may help to enhance reproductive success of L. virgaurea in the face of bisexual-biased seed predation.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Wei Li, Peng Jia, Zhi-long Zhang and Chun-hui Zhang for helps in the field and lab work; Zhi-gang Zhao, Ren-yi Zhang, and Man-tang Wang for helpful comments of several aspects of this work; Marcos Méndez and Rubén Torices made useful comments to improve the manuscript. This project was funded by a State Key Project for Natural Science Foundation (No. 30770359).

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  1. MOE Key Laboratory of Arid and Grassland Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    Gefei Zhang, Tianpeng Xie & Guozhen Du

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  1. Gefei Zhang
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Correspondence to Guozhen Du.

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Zhang, G., Xie, T. & Du, G. Variation in floral sex allocation, female success, and seed predation within racemiform synflorescence in the gynomonoecious Ligularia virgaurea (Asteraceae). J Plant Res 125, 527–538 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-011-0466-2

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