HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (2) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Suzuki, A. A. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Suzuki, A. A. Agricola Articles by Suzuki, A. A.

Reproductive investment in male and female Eurya japonica (Theaceae) at tree and branch levels¹

Department of Biology, Graduate School of Science, Osaka University, 1-1 Machikaneyama-cho, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-0043, Japan

ABSTRACT

Intersexual differences in reproductive investments (RIs) (dry mass of reproductive tissue) at tree and branch levels in Eurya japonica were examined during two successive years. Mean total RIs per tree for males and females (adjusted for the mean trunk diameter in the combined sample trees, 25.7 mm) were 3.47 and 5.67 g dry mass. Females generally allocated about 1.6 times more biomass per tree to reproduction than males. On the other hand, male total RI per terminal branch averaged 51.6 mg dry mass and female averaged 226.6 mg. Females generally allocated about 4.4 times more biomass per terminal branch to reproduction than males. Thus, the magnitude of sexual difference at the tree level was much lower than that at the branch level. There were negative correlations between interyear fluctuation of total RI and stem diameter for both sexes. Interyear fluctuation of RI was greater for females than males in all size categories. This study revealed that conclusions from tree measures of RI differed from branch measures and suggested the importance of evaluating the average RI at the tree level for woody plants. I discussed the importance in adopting an effective sampling strategy for evaluating the RI at the tree level.

Key Words: dioecious plants • module levels • reproductive investment (RI) • sex-related reproduction • size-related reproduction

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. Kazuhiko Floral sex allocation at individual and branch levels in Betula platyphylla var. japonica (Betulaceae), a tall, wind-pollinated monoecious tree species Am. J. Botany, September 1, 2007; 94(9): 1450 - 1458. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]