| Abstract Detail
Ecological Section Matlaga, David [1]. The influence of light availability on the performance and production of sexual and clonal propagules in Calathea marantifolia. A large proportion of plants use both sexual and clonal reproductive modes to disperse and recruit within forest understories heterogeneous in light. However, it is not known how light availability influences the production of these two offspring types, or if it changes their demographic performance. I am using the clonal understory tropical herb Calathea marantifolia (Marantaceae) as a model system to address two questions: 1) Do seedlings and clonal plantlets differ in their demographic response to light availability?, and 2) Does light availability influence the potential trade-off in investment between seed and clonal plantlet production? Results from an experiment where seedlings and clonal plantlets were transplanted into high, medium and low light environments shows that seedlings have higher survival when light availability is high, but clonal plantlets survive best when light availability is low. In another experiment that manipulated the sexual reproductive effort of individual plants, I found that larger clonal planlets are borne on plants that invested less in sexual reproduction. These results suggest that sexual and clonal offspring differ in their light requirements and that a trade-off exists between investment in these two offspring types.
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1 - University of Miami, Biology, Po Box 249118, Coral Gables, Fl, 33134, USA
Keywords:
asexual reproduction.
Presentation Type: Poster:Posters for Sections
Session: P
Location: Exhibit Hall (Northeast, Southwest & Southeast)/Hilton
Date: Sunday, July 8th, 2007
Time: 8:00 AM
Number: P49014
Abstract ID:2249 |
