Life-History Analysis of a Tropical Bryophyte

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9974086McLetchieMany plants occur in populations where one sex outnumbers the other. Scarcity or absence of one sex will limit or prevent sexual reproduction, making populations more vulnerable to environmental change, and risking extinction. Using a plant having gender frequencies that differ across populations, this research (1) assesses differences among individuals in sexual reproduction, clonal reproduction, and growth; (2) determines how these differences affect gender frequencies within and among populations; (3) begins a long-term field study monitoring gender frequencies; and (4) develops mathematical models to explain and predict natural patterns. A combination of DNA fingerprinting, field and greenhouse experiments, and modeling analysis are used to achieve these goals.Though many species feature both clonal and sexual reproduction, few studies have been able to distinguish their effects and those of growth on population dynamics over an entire life cycle. This project addresses these effects and their implications using a representative of a large but understudied group of plants (bryophytes). Thus, this research will contribute to the conservation of these plants and of other species capable of reproducing both clonally and sexually, while providing training to young researchers in a diversity of important and broadly useful research methods.