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First published online August 26, 2009; doi:10.3732/ajb.0900084 American Journal of Botany 96: 1712-1721 (2009) © 2009 Botanical Society of America, Inc.

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An experimental demonstration of the cost of sex and a potential resource limitation on reproduction in the moss Pterygoneurum (Pottiaceae)¹

² School of Life Sciences, University of Nevada, 4505 Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, Nevada 89154-4004 USA ³ Department of Biology, 101 Morgan Building, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40506-0225 USA

ABSTRACT

The cost of sexual reproduction is incurred when the current reproductive episode contributes to a a decline in future plant performance. To test the hypotheses that a trade-off exists between current sexual reproduction and subsequent clonal regeneration and that resources limit reproduction and regeneration, plants of the widespread moss Pterygoneurum ovatum were subjected to induced sporophytic abortion, upper leaf removal, and nutrient amendment treatments. Sexually reproducing plants were slower or less likely to produce regenerative structures (protonemata or shoots) and produced fewer regenerative tissue areas or structures. The ability and the timeline to reproduce sexually and regenerate clonally were unaffected by an inorganic nutrient amendment. However, when leaves subtending the sporophyte were removed, the sporophytes were less likely to mature, tended to take a longer time to mature, and were smaller compared to sporophytes from shoots with a full complement of upper leaves. Our findings indicate that plants investing in sexual reproduction suffer a cost of decreased clonal regeneration and indicate that sporophyte maturation is resource-limited, with upper leaves contributing to the nutrition of the sporophyte. This study represents only the second explicit experimental demonstration of a trade-off between sexual and asexual reproduction in bryophytes.

Key Words: abortion • bryophyte • Pottiaceae • protonema • Pterygoneurum ovatum • regeneration • sexual reproduction • sporophyte • trade-offs

Received for publication 21 March 2009. Accepted for publication 5 May 2009.

FOOTNOTES

¹ The authors thank the U. S. Bureau of Land Management for providing a collecting permit on federal lands, R. Stark for graphical assistance, and the hospitality and stimulating discussions courtesy of I. Bisang and L. Hedenäs. Suggestions from two anonymous reviewers greatly improved the manuscript. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under grant nos. IOB 0416407 (D.N.M.) and IOB 0416281 (L.R.S.).

⁴ Author for correspondence (e-mail: lrs{at}unlv.nevada.edu)

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