关键词:
Evolution
Reproduction
Distyly
Waltheria
Pollination experiments
摘要:
Heterostylous reproductive systems are usually absent on oceanic island. Self-compatibility would, generally, be advantageous for long-distance dispersing species, as it provides reproductive assurance when density of mates is low. The heterostylous reproductive system, often associated with an incompatibility system, may be a constraint on the colonization of remote habitats. It is, therefore, surprising that the distylous shrub Waltheria ovata has colonized all of the Galapagos Islands, situated more than a thousand kilometres off the shore of Ecuador. The present study confirmed the reciprocal herkogamy of W. ovata. A comparison of mainland and the Galapagos Island populations showed a reduction in flower size, including distance between anthers and stigmas and size of anthers on the islands. Some reductions are quite large but not significantly different, mainly due to a high degree of variation among populations on the islands. The pin morph of W. ovata has undergone the most radical adaptive changes in morphology. Pollination experiments of W. ovata disclosed a leak in the incompatibility system on the Galapagos Islands, allowing higher selfing rates as well as intra-morph seed set compared to the mainland populations. This was most pronounced in the thrum morph. The deficient distylous reproductive system may be an adaptation to a pollinator and mate sparse environment on the Galapagos Islands. We conclude that the heterostylous mating system has changed in response to colonization of the Galapagos Islands, giving room for reproductive assurance by seed set after selfings and intra-morph pollinations.