Articles | Volume 21, issue 8
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2133-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2133-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Regional effects and local climate jointly shape the global distribution of sexual systems in woody flowering plants
Minhua Zhang
ECNU-Alberta Joint Lab for Biodiversity Study, Tiantong Forest Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
Xiaoqing Hu
School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
Fangliang He
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
ECNU-Alberta Joint Lab for Biodiversity Study, Tiantong Forest Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2H1, Canada
Related authors
No articles found.
Kexin Yang, Fangliang He, Yeerjiang Baiketuerhan, Juan Wang, Xiuhai Zhao, and Chunyu Zhang
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-167, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-167, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Biogeosciences (BG).
Short summary
Short summary
Our study suggests the importance of the biogeographical conservatism hypothesis in understanding the present distribution of plants of different sexual systems, but this conservatism hypothesis would break down under future climate change. We argue the necessity to differentiate sexual systems when investigating the forest biodiversity and ecosystem function and reveals the importance of geographical origin in the study of floral diversity.
Kai Chen, Kevin S. Burgess, Fangliang He, Xiang-Yun Yang, Lian-Ming Gao, and De-Zhu Li
Biogeosciences, 19, 4801–4810, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-4801-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-4801-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Why does plants' distributional range size vary enormously? This study provides evidence that seed mass, intraspecific seed mass variation, seed dispersal mode and phylogeny contribute to explaining species distribution variation on a geographic scale. Our study clearly shows the importance of including seed life-history traits in modeling and predicting the impact of climate change on species distribution of seed plants.
Cited articles
Ashton, P. S.: Speciation among tropical forest trees: some deductions in the light of recent evidence, Biol. J. Linn. Soc., 1, 155–196, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.1969.tb01818.x, 1969.
Arroyo, M. T. K. and Squeo, F. A.: Relationship between plant breeding systems and pollination, in: Biological approaches and evolutionary trends in plants, edited by: Kawano, S., Academic Press, London, 205–227, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-402960-6.50004-4, 1990.
Ashman, T.: The evolution of separate sexes: a focus on the ecological context, in: Ecology and Evolution of Flowers, edited by: Harder, L. D. and Barrett, S. C. H., Oxford University Press, Oxford, 204–222, ISBN 97801985708519780198570868, 2006.
Baker, H. G.: Self-Compatibility and Establishment After “Long-Distance” Dispersal, Evolution, 9, 347–349, https://doi.org/10.2307/2405656, 1955.
Baker, H. G. and Cox, P. A.: Further Thoughts on Dioecism and Islands, Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard., 71, 244–253, https://doi.org/10.2307/2399068, 1984.
Barrett, S. C. H.: The evolution of plant sexual diversity, Nat. Rev. Genet., 3, 274–284, https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg776, 2002.
Barry Cox, C.: The biogeographic regions reconsidered, J. Biogeogr., 28, 511–523, https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2699.2001.00566.x, 2001.
Bawa, K. S.: Evolution of Dioecy in Flowering Plants, Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst., 11, 15–39, https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.es.11.110180.000311, 1980.
Bawa, K. S. and Opler, P. A.: Dioecism in Tropical Forest Trees, Evolution, 29, 167–179, https://doi.org/10.2307/2407150, 1975.
Cadotte, M. W. and Davies, T. J. (Eds.): Phylogenies in ecology: a guide to concepts and methods, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, ISBN 9780691157689, 2016.
Cardoso, J. C. F., Viana, M. L., Matias, R., Furtado, M. T., Caetano, A. P. de S., Consolaro, H., and de Brito, V. L. G.: Towards a unified terminology for angiosperm reproductive system, Acta Bot. Brasilica, 32, 329–348, https://doi.org/10.1590/0102-33062018abb0124, 2018.
Charlesworth, D.: Evolution of Plant Breeding Systems, Curr. Biol., 16, PR726–R735, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2006.07.068, 2006.
Chen, X.-S. and Li, Q.-J.: Patterns of plant sexual systems in subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forests in Ailao Mountains, SW China, J. Plant Ecol., 1, 179–185, https://doi.org/10.1093/jpe/rtn019, 2008.
Condit, R. S.: Tropical Forest Census Plots-Methods and Results from Barro Colorado Island, Panama and a Comparison with Other Plots, Springer Verlag and R G. Landes Company, Berlin and Georgetown, TX, ISBN 3540641440, 1998.
Cronk, Q.: The distribution of sexual function in the flowering plant: from monoecy to dioecy, Philos. T. R. Soc. B, 377, 20210486, https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2021.0486, 2022.
De Jong, T. J., Shmida, A., and Thuijsman, F.: Sex allocation in plants and the evolution of monoecy, Evol. Ecol. Res., 10, 1087–1109, 2008.
Etterson, J. R. and Mazer, S. J.: How climate change affects plants' sex lives, Science, 353, 32–33, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aag1624, 2016.
Friedman, J. and Barrett, S. C. H.: Wind of change: New insights on the ecology and evolution of pollination and mating in wind-pollinated plants, Ann. Bot., 103, 1515–1527, https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcp035, 2009.
Gaston, K. J.: Global patterns in biodiversity, Nature, 405, 220–227, 2000.
Hultine, K. R., Grady, K. C., Wood, T. E., Shuster, S. M., Stella, J. C., and Whitham, T. G.: Climate change perils for dioecious plant species, Nat. Plants, 2, 16109, https://doi.org/10.1038/nplants.2016.109, 2016.
Jin, Y. and Qian, H.: V.PhyloMaker: an R package that can generate very large phylogenies for vascular plants, Ecography, 42, 1353–1359, https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.04434, 2019.
Jin, Y. and Qian, H.: V.PhyloMaker2: An updated and enlarged R package that can generate very large phylogenies for vascular plants, Plant Divers., 44, 335–339, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pld.2022.05.005, 2022.
Kang, H. and Bawa, K. S.: Effects of successional status, habit, sexual systems, and pollinators on flowering patterns in tropical rain forest trees, Am. J. Bot., 90, 865–876, https://doi.org/10.3732/ajb.90.6.865, 2003.
Kembel, S. W., Cowan, P. D., Helmus, M. R., Cornwell, W. K., Morlon, H., Ackerly, D. D., Blomberg, S. P., and Webb, C. O.: Picante: R tools for integrating phylogenies and ecology, Bioinformatics, 26, 1463–1464, https://doi.org/10.1093/bioinformatics/btq166, 2010.
Pagel, M.: Inferring the historical patterns of biological evolution, Nature, 401, 877–884, 1999.
Pannell, J. R., Auld, J. R., Brandvain, Y., Burd, M., Busch, J. W., Cheptou, P. O., Conner, J. K., Goldberg, E. E., Grant, A. G., Grossenbacher, D. L., Hovick, S. M., Igic, B., Kalisz, S., Petanidou, T., Randle, A. M., de Casas, R. R., Pauw, A., Vamosi, J. C., and Winn, A. A.: The scope of Baker's law, New Phytol., 208, 656–667, https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.13539, 2015.
Pennell, M. W., Eastman, J. M., Slater, G. J., Brown, J. W., Uyeda, J. C., Fitzjohn, R. G., Alfaro, M. E., and Harmon, L. J.: Geiger v2.0: An expanded suite of methods for fitting macroevolutionary models to phylogenetic trees, Bioinformatics, 30, 2216–2218, https://doi.org/10.1093/bioinformatics/btu181, 2014.
Qian, H. and Ricklefs, R. E.: Out of the tropical lowlands: latitude versus elevation, Trends Ecol. Evol., 31, 738–741, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2016.07.012, 2016.
R Core Team: R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria, https://www.R-project.org/ (last access: 17 August 2023), 2023.
Rech, A. R., Dalsgaard, B., Sandel, B., Sonne, J., Svenning, J. C., Holmes, N., and Ollerton, J.: The macroecology of animal versus wind pollination: ecological factors are more important than historical climate stability, Plant Ecol. Divers., 9, 253–262, https://doi.org/10.1080/17550874.2016.1207722, 2016.
Regal, P. J.: Pollination by wind and animals: ecology of geographic patterns, Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst., 13, 497–524, https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.es.13.110182.002433, 1982.
Réjou-Méchain, M. and Cheptou, P. O.: High incidence of dioecy in young successional tropical forests, J. Ecol., 103, 725–732, https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.12393, 2015.
Renner, S. and Ricklefs, R.: Dioecy and its correlates in the flowering plants, Am. J. Bot., 82, 596–606, 1995.
Renner, S. S.: The relative and absolute frequencies of angiosperm sexual systems: Dioecy, monoecy, gynodioecy, and an updated online database, Am. J. Bot., 101, 1588–1596, https://doi.org/10.3732/ajb.1400196, 2014.
Ricklefs, R. E. and He, F.: Region effects influence local tree species diversity, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 113, 674–679, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1523683113, 2016.
Sakai, A. K. and Weller, S. G.: Gender and Sexual Dimorphism in Flowering Plants: A review of Terminology, Biogeographic Patterns, Ecological Correlates, and Phylogenetic Approaches, in: Gender and Sexual Dimorphism in Flowering Plants, edited by: Geber, M. A., Dawson, T. E., and Delph, L. F., Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg, 1–31, https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-662-03908-3_1 (last access: 26 July 2023), 1999.
Sakai, A. K., Wagner, W. L., Ferguson, D. M., and Herbst, D. R.: Biogeographical and ecological correlates of dioecy in the Hawaiian flora, Ecology, 76, 2530–2543, https://doi.org/10.2307/2265826, 1995.
Schluter, D. and Pennell, M. W.: Speciation gradients and the distribution of biodiversity, Nature, 546, 48–55, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature22897, 2017.
Tsuji, K. and Fukami, T.: Sexual Dimorphism and Species Diversity: from Clades to Sites, Trends Ecol. Evol., 35, 105–114, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2019.09.001, 2020.
Vamosi, J. C., Otto, S. P., and Barrett, S. C. H.: Phylogenetic analysis of the ecological correlates of dioecy in angiosperms, J. Evol. Biol., 16, 1006–18, 2003.
Vamosi, S. M.: A Reconsideration of the Reproductive Biology of the Atlantic Forest in the Volta Velha Reserve, Biodivers. Conserv., 15, 1417–1424, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-005-0308-4, 2006.
Vamosi, S. M. and Queenborough, S. A.: Breeding systems and phylogenetic diversity of seed plants along a large-scale elevational gradient, J. Biogeogr., 37, 465–476, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2009.02214.x, 2010.
Venables, W. N. and Ripley, B. D.: Modern Applied Statistics with S, 4th Edn., Springer, New York, NY, ISBN 978-1-4899-2821-4, 2002.
Wang, Y., Luo, A., Lyu, T., Dimitrov, D., Xu, X., Freckleton, R. P., Li, Y., Su, X., Li, Y., Liu, Y., Sandanov, D., Li, Q., Hao, Z., Liu, S., and Wang, Z.: Global distribution and evolutionary transitions of angiosperm sexual systems, Ecol. Lett., 24, 1835–1847, https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13815, 2021.
Wang, Y., Lyu, T., Shrestha, N., Lyu, L., Li, Y., Schmid, B., Freckleton, R. P., Dimitrov, D., Liu, S., Hao, Z., and Wang, Z.: Drivers of large-scale geographical variation in sexual systems of woody plants, Glob. Ecol. Biogeogr., 29, 546–557, https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13052, 2020.
Willig, M. R., Kaufman, D. M., and Stevens, R. D.: Latitudinal Gradients of Biodiversity: Pattern, Process, Scale, and Synthesis, Annu. Rev. Ecol. Evol. Syst., 34, 273–309, https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.34.012103.144032, 2003.
Zhang, J., Nielsen, S. E., Mao, L., Chen, S., and Svenning, J. C.: Regional and historical factors supplement current climate in shaping global forest canopy height, J. Ecol., 104, 469–478, https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.12510, 2016.
Zhang, M.: Minhua322/plant-sex-system: v1.0.0 (v1.0.0), Zenodo [data set], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11035112, 2024.
Zhang, M. and He, F.: Plant sex affects the structure of plant–pollinator networks in a subtropical forest, Oecologia, 185, 269–279, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-017-3942-0, 2017.
Zhang, M. and He, F.: Plant breeding systems influence the seasonal dynamics of plant-pollinator networks in a subtropical forest, Oecologia, 195, 751–758, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-021-04863-5, 2021.
Short summary
Plant sexual systems are important to understanding the evolution and maintenance of plant diversity. We quantified region effects on their proportions while incorporating local climate factors and evolutionary history. We found regional processes and climate effects both play important roles in shaping the geographic distribution of sexual systems, providing a baseline for predicting future changes in forest communities in the context of global change.
Plant sexual systems are important to understanding the evolution and maintenance of plant...
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint