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Cost and benefits of attractive floral traits in the annual species Madia sativa (Asteraceae)

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Abstract

The maintenance of flower size variation within populations might be explained by conflicting selection pressures on floral traits that may involve biological agents, such as mutualists and antagonists, and allocation costs associated with floral display. The annual species Madia sativa (Asteraceae) exhibits ample variation in the number of ray florets in natural populations. This field study aimed at evaluating the costs and benefits associated with floral traits in M. sativa. In particular, we addressed two main questions: (1) Is the number of ray florets positively associated with pollinator visitation rate? (2) Is there a fitness cost of ray floret maintenance when pollinators are absent? We detected one benefit of conspicuous ray capitula: a strong preference by insect pollinators. We also confirmed the occurrence of costs: when pollinators were excluded conspicuous ray capitula had a reduced reproductive assurance via autogamous selfing, and there were trade-offs between the number of ray florets and seed mass and seed germination. Results suggest that the maintenance of within-population variation in the number of ray florets in M. sativa is explained, at least in part, by the balance between costs and benefits associated with this floral trait.

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Acknowledgements

We thank D. Jara, C. Ossa and E. Soto for their assistance during the field work. This work was funded by Fondecyt Postdoctoral grant 3040036 to WLG.

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  1. Departamento de Botánica, Universidad de Concepción, Casilla, 160-C, Concepción, Chile

    Constanza Celedón-Neghme, Wilfredo L. Gonzáles & Ernesto Gianoli

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  1. Constanza Celedón-Neghme
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  2. Wilfredo L. Gonzáles
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  3. Ernesto Gianoli
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Correspondence to Wilfredo L. Gonzáles.

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Celedón-Neghme, C., Gonzáles, W.L. & Gianoli, E. Cost and benefits of attractive floral traits in the annual species Madia sativa (Asteraceae). Evol Ecol 21, 247–257 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10682-006-9002-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10682-006-9002-6

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