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(American Journal of Botany. 2005;92:826-832.)
© 2005 Botanical Society of America, Inc.

Ecology

Reproduction and progeny of Silene latifolia (Caryophyllaceae) as affected by atmospheric CO2 concentration1

Xianzhong Wang

Department of Biology, Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis, 723 West Michigan Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46202-5132 USA

ABSTRACT

Sexual dimorphism in plants has been known for over two millennia. However, little is known about how male and female reproduction of dioecious species will respond to anthropogenic environmental perturbations. Using growth chambers, the effects of CO2 enrichment on male and female reproduction in Silene latifolia were examined and whether parental CO2 environment affected progeny germination and sex ratio. Reproduction of male and female S. latifolia was enhanced by a similar magnitude at elevated CO2. Over the growing season, males produced 16 times as many flowers as females did fruits per plant, but no difference in reproductive biomass between genders was observed at ambient or elevated CO2. Germination of seeds produced by plants grown at different CO2 concentrations was significantly different. Female seeds from higher CO2-grown plants tended to emerge earlier than those from ambient-CO2-grown plants, but emergence of male seeds was little affected. Overall, seeds from elevated-CO2-grown plants had 20% higher germination and were more female-biased than those from ambient-CO2-grown plants. Because of the enhanced reproduction and more female-biased progeny under elevated CO2, the population structure of this cosmopolitan weedy species will likely be altered in a future environment.

Key Words: Caryophyllaceae • dioecy • elevated CO2 • global change • progeny performance • reproduction • Silene latifolia






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