Cardiff University | Prifysgol Caerdydd ORCA
Online Research @ Cardiff 
WelshClear Cookie - decide language by browser settings

Sex-differential herbivory in androdioecious Mercurialis annua

Sanchez Vilas, Julia ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4049-8443 and Pannell, John R. 2011. Sex-differential herbivory in androdioecious Mercurialis annua. PLoS ONE 6 (7) , e22083. 10.1371/journal.pone.0022083

[thumbnail of Sanchez Vilas 2011.pdf]
Preview
PDF - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.

Download (168kB) | Preview

Abstract

Males of plants with separate sexes are often more prone to attack by herbivores than females. A common explanation for this pattern is that individuals with a greater male function suffer more from herbivory because they grow more quickly, drawing more heavily on resources for growth that might otherwise be allocated to defence. Here, we test this ‘faster-sex’ hypothesis in a species in which males in fact grow more slowly than hermaphrodites, the wind-pollinated annual herb Mercurialis annua. We expected greater herbivory in the faster-growing hermaphrodites. In contrast, we found that males, the slower sex, were significantly more heavily eaten by snails than hermaphrodites. Our results thus reject the faster-sex hypothesis and point to the importance of a trade-off between defence and reproduction rather than growth.

Item Type: Article
Date Type: Publication
Status: Published
Schools: Biosciences
Subjects: Q Science > QH Natural history > QH301 Biology
Q Science > QH Natural history > QH426 Genetics
Q Science > QK Botany
Publisher: PLoS
ISSN: 1932-6203
Date of First Compliant Deposit: 30 March 2016
Last Modified: 10 May 2023 23:47
URI: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/41545

Citation Data

Cited 11 times in Scopus. View in Scopus. Powered By Scopus® Data

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item Edit Item

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics