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TURNER REVIEW
Contents Vol 54(5)

The ecology and evolution of gender strategies in plants: the example of Australian Wurmbea (Colchicaceae)

Spencer C. H. Barrett A C and Andrea L. Case A B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Department of Botany, 25 Willcocks St, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3B2.

B Department of Biological Sciences, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 44242, USA.

C Corresponding author. Email: barrett@botany.utoronto.ca

Australian Journal of Botany 54(5) 417-433 https://doi.org/10.1071/BT05151
Submitted: 7 September 2005  Accepted: 9 March 2006   Published: 3 August 2006

Abstract

Angiosperms possess diverse sexual systems, often with different combinations of hermaphroditic, pistillate and staminate flowers. Despite this sexual diversity, most populations are either monomorphic or dimorphic with respect to gender strategy, where gender refers to the relative contribution that individuals make to fitness through female and male function. An important problem in evolutionary biology is to determine how and why variation in gender strategies originates and is maintained. Wurmbea (Colchicaceae), a genus of insect-pollinated geophytes, has recently become the focus of ecological and evolutionary studies aimed at understanding these issues. Phylogenetic reconstructions suggest dispersal from Africa to Australia, then New Zealand, and multiple transitions between monomorphic and dimorphic sexual systems within Australia. Microevolutionary studies of W. dioica and W. biglandulosa, two wide-ranging taxa with monomorphic and dimorphic populations, provide insights into the selective mechanisms governing transitions between sexual systems. Dimorphic populations of these taxa likely comprise independent origins of dimorphism via the gynodioecious pathway by invasion of females into monomorphic populations. Shifts in pollination biology and flower size, and their consequent effects on mating patterns, may have contributed to the evolution of gender dimorphism. Pollinator-mediated selfing and inbreeding depression provide a sufficient fertility advantage for females to be maintained in dimorphic populations. Once dimorphism establishes, increasing gender specialisation is associated with invasion of more arid environments. Inbreeding avoidance, particularly under stressful ecological conditions, is the most likely selective mechanism maintaining gender dimorphism in Wurmbea. We conclude our review by suggesting avenues for future research that might provide a more comprehensive picture of the evolution of gender strategies in Wurmbea.


Acknowledgments

We thank the many colleagues who have helped us in our studies of Wurmbea, especially Sean Graham, Terry Macfarlane, Greg Peters and Lynda Delph. We are particularly grateful to Mike Ramsey and Glenda Vaughton for sending us material of W. biglandulosa for our phylogenetic analyses, as well as their reprints and unpublished manuscripts and many informal discussions. Pat Lorch and Bill Cole assisted with field studies in Australia, Linley Jesson helped with collections from South Africa, and Bill Cole prepared the figures. This research was funded through Discovery Grants from NSERC and the Canada Research Chair’s Program to SCHB. ALC was supported by Connaught Graduate Fellowships from the University of Toronto.


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