Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/C511313/1
The quantitative genetic architecture of sex allocation and the selection of combined versus separate sexes in an annual plant.
Grant Award
- Principal Investigator:
- Professor J Pannell, University of Oxford, Plant Sciences
- Co-Investigator:
- Professor R Freckleton, University of Sheffield, School of Biosciences
- Grant held at:
- University of Oxford, Plant Sciences
- Science Area:
- Terrestrial
- Overall Classification:
- Terrestrial
- ENRIs:
- Biodiversity
- Science Topics:
- Population Genetics/Evolution
- Population Ecology
- Abstract:
- A fundamental concern of both ecology and evolution is the question of how diversity is maintained. One question that remains largely unanswered is how high levels of variability in life-history and reproductive traits are maintained in populations. The question is important not only for an understanding of the evolutionary process, but also because the life history and reproductive strategy of a species are key determinants of its ecology. Evolutionary transitions between different strategies, and the maintenance of variation in strategies adopted by members of a population, will be due at a fundamental level to the expression of genes, to environmental variability in time and space, and to their interactions. Two particularly important forms of environmental variability are the spatial subdivision of populations, particularly in plants, and variation in resource availability between populations. We will study the quantitative genetics of sex allocation in an annual plant to address key hypotheses about how an important life-history trait responds to selection, focusing on two main conceptual areas: (1) the selection of sex allocation and combined versus separate sexes in a metapopulation (a population subdivided into smaller subpopulations that are maintained in a balance between colonization and local extinction); and (2) the dependence of selection of combined versus separate sexes on the resource status of the environment; this latter idea was proposed by Darwin but remains to be tested experimentally and is poorly understood. We will test key hypotheses in these two conceptual areas using three different studies. (1) We will conduct a large comparative analysis of sex allocation across five dines in the sexual system of M. annua in order to test predictions made by the metapopulation model. These five dines are the subject of a large longitudinal study already funded by NERC as a Small Grant, in which we are surveying over a 3-year period approximately 2000 permanent plots, distributed along each of the five sexual-system dines. (2) We will test the metapopulation model for the maintenance of androdioecy by establishing experimental plots using genetic material that is representative of variation observed between populations and testing predictions regarding changes in the proportion of males between years. (3) We will test the predicted response to frequency-dependent selection of the sex allocation of hermaphrodites by manipulating the selection intensity acting on replicate population under low and high nutrient conditions. This will be the first experimental evolution study of sex allocation for any plant or animal. Finally we will use the data from these experiments to parameterize a demographic and sex allocation model for M. annua at a landscape level. These experiments will thus lead to the first fully integrated study of sex allocation and plant demography at a large spatial scale. The model will be interpreted in light of results from a longitudinal metapopulation study currently underway across much of the species range.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/C511313/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- Standard Grants Pre FEC
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- Standard Grant
This grant award has a total value of £173,461
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| Total - Staff | Total - T&S | Total - Other Costs | Total - Indirect Costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| £101,785 | £5,069 | £19,786 | £46,821 |
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