Effect of altitude on reproductive ingredient and sex allocation of different colors of Anemone obtusiloba in populations

Abstract

In this study, we aimed to explore the effect of altitude on reproductive ingredient and sex allocation of different colors of Anemone obtusiloba in populations. The variations of reproductive ingredient and sex allocation of three colors of Anemone obtusiloba in different four altitudinal gradients at the eastern Qinghai Tibetan Plateau were examined. Our results showed that with the increased altitude, gynoecium/flower, androceium/flower and gynoecium/individual were increased, but androceium/individual, gynoecium number/flower, androceium number/flower, gynoecium number/ individual and androceium number/individual in three flower color of Anemone obtusiloba were decreased. Besides, male allocation and ♂/♀ were also decreased, which showed female-biased sex allocation. Furthermore, in the four altitudinal gradients, the individual size of same color was positively correlated with reproductive ingredient, and altitude had a direct impact on size-dependent reproductive ingredient. However, there were not certain correlations between male allocation, ♂/♀ and individual size in the same color of Anemone obtusiloba. Moreover, in the four altitudinal gradients, the reproductive investment of same color was positively correlated with gynoecium and androceium, but there were not certain correlations between male allocation, ♂/♀ and reproductive investment. In conclusion, altitude had a significant effect on reproductive ingredient and sex allocation in different colors of Anemone obtusiloba. Different colors of Anemone obtusiloba all increased of female function with the increased altitude. However, there were difference in influence mechanism of altitude on size-dependent reproductive ingredient and distribution between female and male function of resource.

Keywords:
flower color; altitude; individual size; reproductive ingredient; sex allocation