Dissertation Research: Resource Allocation and the Maintenance of Gynodioecy

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Theoretical work has far out-paced empirical studies in addressing the evolution and maintenance of gynodioecy a specialized mating system in which individual plants are either female or hermaphroditic. The proposed study will explore the importance of the nutrient limitation in influencing reproductive allocation patterns in a gynodioecious population of Sidalcea oregana ssp. spicata, a perennial plant native to the Sierra Nevada. Resources available to plants in the field will bemanipulated and records of nutrient allocation patterns will becompiled. This work will be the first to address the implications of nutrient allocation patterns in a gynodioecious species and it will shed light on the validity of resource-based arguments for the maintenance of gynodioecy. This study also concerns resource use patterns in a montane perennial, an area in which current knowledge is especially weak. Information on nutrient limitation may be applied to programs of revegetation. Today, more and more habitat reclamation projects involve the use of native species. Moreover, there is a growing demand for high quality seeds from native species in the horticultural industry. Results from this study will contribute to understanding how resources are used by wild plants in native habitat. //