A case of gender equality: absence of sex-related costs in a dioecious tropical forest tree species

Autor(es)

Martins, Valeria Forni ^{[1, 2]} ; Bispo, Rafaela Leticia Brito ^[3] ; de Paula Loiola, Priscilla ^[4]

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Fed Univ Sao Carlos UFSCar, Ctr Agrarian Sci, Dept Nat Sci Maths & Educ, Rodovia Anhanguera SP 330, Km 174, BR-13600970 Araras, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Campinas UNICAMP, Inst Biol, Dept Plant Biol, CP 6109, BR-13083970 Campinas, SP - Brazil

^[3] Fed Univ Sao Carlos UFSCar, Licenciaturship Biol Sci, Rodovia Anhanguera SP 330, Km 174, BR-13600970 Araras, SP - Brazil

^[4] Fed Univ Sao Carlos UFSCar, Programa Posgrad Agr & Ambiente, Rodovia Anhanguera SP 330, Km 174, BR-13600970 Araras, SP - Brazil

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: PLANT ECOLOGY; v. 222, n. 3 JAN 2021.
• Citações Web of Science: 0

Resumo

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. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 03/12595-7 - Composição florística, estrutura e funcionamento da Floresta Ombrófila Densa dos Núcleos Picinguaba e Santa Virgínia do Parque Estadual da Serra do Mar, estado de São Paulo, Brasil
• Beneficiário: Carlos Alfredo Joly
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Programa BIOTA - Temático