Not all weeds are created equal: A database approach uncovers differences in the sexual system of native and introduced weeds

Weedy species provide excellent opportunities to examine the process of successful colonization of novel environments. Despite the influence of the sexual system on a variety of processes from reproduction to genetic structure, how the sexual system of species influences weediness has received only...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ecology and evolution 2017-04, Vol.7 (8), p.2636-2642
Main Authors: Van Etten, Megan L., Conner, Jeffrey K., Chang, Shu‐Mei, Baucom, Regina S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Baker's law
Colonization
ecological filtering
Flowers
Genetic structure
Hermaphrodites
Hypotheses
Indigenous species
invasive
Original Research
Reproduction
Reproduction (biology)
sexual system
weed
Weeds
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Summary:Weedy species provide excellent opportunities to examine the process of successful colonization of novel environments. Despite the influence of the sexual system on a variety of processes from reproduction to genetic structure, how the sexual system of species influences weediness has received only limited consideration. We examined the hypothesis that weedy plants have an increased likelihood of being self‐compatible compared with nonweedy plants; this hypothesis is derived from Baker's law, which states that species that can reproduce uniparentally are more likely to successfully establish in a new habitat where mates are lacking. We combined a database of the weed (weedy/nonweedy) and introduction status (introduced/native) of plant species found in the USA with a database of plant sexual systems and determined whether native and introduced weeds varied in their sexual systems compared with native and introduced nonweeds. We found that introduced weeds are overrepresented by species with both male and female functions present within a single flower (hermaphrodites) whereas weeds native to the USA are overrepresented by species with male and female flowers present on a single plant (monoecious species). Overall, our results show that Baker's law is supported at the level of the sexual system, thus providing further evidence that uniparental reproduction is an important component of being either a native or introduced weed. Species that can reproduce uniparentally should be more likely to successfully establish in a new habitat where mates are lacking (Baker's law). We examined whether weedy native and introduced species follow this pattern and have an increased likelihood of uniparental reproduction. We found that introduced weeds are enriched for species with both male and female functions present within a single flower (hermaphrodites) while weeds native to the USA are enriched for species with male and female flowers present on a single plant (monoecious species), supporting Baker's law at the level of the sexual system.
ISSN:2045-7758
2045-7758
DOI:10.1002/ece3.2820