Ecology and Evolution of Plant Reproduction

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The ~300,000 species of flowering plants exhibit remarkable diversity of reproductive adaptations, with sexual systems ranging from dioecy to hermaphroditism, mating systems ranging from complete self-fertilization to complete cross-fertilization, and seemingly limitless variety of floral design and display. This diversity arises from the variety of options available to plants with respect to reproductive effort, relative allocation to femaleness and maleness, characteristics of potential mates, and interaction with pollen and seed dispersers. *** *In this application I propose to research three aspects of reproductive function with sets of independent projects. 1) Three projects address several factors that can limit annual seed production by individual plants (insufficient pollination, pollen quality and resources for seed production) and mechanisms that can mitigate their effects (indeterminate flowering and perenniality). 2) Four projects examine two under-appreciated aspects of the operation of natural selection in creating reproductive diversity of plants: the dynamic, mosaic nature of reproductive phenotypes; and the influence of commonness and rarity in the evolution of quantitative traits. 3) Three projects explore the consequences of widespread polygamy among flowering plants for differential success of mates, seed production and the survival of a plant's offspring in heterogeneous environments. These projects address influences on the reproductive diversity of plants from complementary perspectives ranging from the function of specific traits to the operation of natural selection. This hypothesis-driven research includes new approaches to old problems and exposes previously unexplored subjects to incisive inquiry. In addition to these fundamental contributions to understanding of reproductive function and diversity of flowering plants, this research will educate at least 8 post-graduate scientists and provide research experience for at least 10 undergraduate students.**