How natural selection shapes syndromes of dispersal and mating system in plants?
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The question of how dispersal traits and mating system traits are associated in organisms
has been central in evolutionary ecology, especially in plants. Baker’s Law states
that colonization by self-compatible organisms is more likely to be successful than
colonization by self-incompatible organisms because of the ability for self-compatible
organisms to produce offspring without pollination agents. This model has been very
influential in plant ecology and has been applied to various ecological contexts. Data
have however not established a general pattern for the association of traits. In this talk,
I will discuss and clarify several aspects of Baker’s Law and focus on discrepancies with
population genetics theory of mating systems. I will finally present a general adaptive
dynamics metapopulation model analysing the joint evolution of seed dispersal and self-
fertilisation. The model reveals that evolutionary processes do not necessarily lead to
Baker’s predictions. I will discuss the reasons for such discrepancies and how the model
may explain several empirical observations.
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