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First published online June 10, 2009; doi:10.3732/ajb.0800319 American Journal of Botany 96: 1337-1347 (2009) © 2009 Botanical Society of America, Inc.

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Comparative analysis of the reproductive ecology of Monotropa and Monotropsis: Two mycoheterotrophic genera in the Monotropoideae (Ericaceae)¹

² Department of Biological Sciences University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, Ohio 45221-0006

ABSTRACT

Studies of mycoheterotrophs, defined as plants that obtain carbon resources from associated mycorrhizal fungi, have fundamentally contributed to our understanding of the importance and complexity of symbiotic ecological interactions. However, to date, the reproductive ecology of these organisms remains empirically understudied, with existing literature presenting hypotheses about traits including a generalist pollination syndrome and autogamous self-pollination. To address this gap in our knowledge of the reproductive ecology of mycoheterotrophic plants, we comparatively analyzed three species of two monotropoid genera, Monotropa and Monotropsis. During three consecutive years of field observations and manipulations of four populations of Monotropa uniflora, seven of M. hypopitys (both red and yellow color forms), and two of Monotropsis odorata, we investigated flowering phenology, pollination ecology, breeding system, floral herbivory, and reproductive effort and output. Contrary to previous predictions, our results revealed that taxa are largely outcross-pollinated and specialized toward Bombus pollinators. Additionally, species differ in breeding system, timing and duration of reproductive development, fluctuations in reproductive effort and output, and fitness impacts of herbivory. This study is the first thorough investigation of the reproductive ecology of mycoheterotrophic species and provides insight into possible limitations in reproductive traits imposed by a mycoheterotrophic life history.

Key Words: breeding system • Ericaceae • Monotropa • Monotropsis • mycoheterotroph • phenology • pollination • reproductive ecology

Received for publication 21 September 2008. Accepted for publication 21 February 2009.

FOOTNOTES

¹ The authors extend special thanks to M. Becus, D. Boone, E. Buschbeck, D. Conover, B. and G. Culbertson, J. Decker, M. Dodson, S. Dunford, J. E. Klooster, S. Lockwood, E. Maurer, R. Olson, M. Pistrang, V. Soukup, and D. Taylor for providing support and resources necessary to locate populations and conduct these analyses. They are grateful to M. Bidartondo and two anonymous reviewers for critical advice on this manuscript. They also thank the staff of Cherokee National Forest, Daniel Boone National Forest, Germantown MetroPark, The Nature Conservancy, Ohio Department of Natural Resources; the Culberson family; and the Lockwood family for permission to study these species and for access to populations. Funding for this research was made possible through the University Research Council Fellowship and the Weiman, Wendel, Benedict Award offered by the University of Cincinnati to M.R.K.

³ Author for correspondence (e-mail: mklooster{at}oeb.harvard.edu); present address: Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University Herbaria, 22 Divinity Ave., Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 USA

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