Costs and benefits of reproducing under unfavorable conditions: an integrated view of ecological and physiological constraints in a cerrado shrub

• Published in: Plant ecology Vol. 216; no. 7; pp. 963 - 974
• Main Authors: Silveira, Fernando A. O, Santos, Jean C, Franceschinelli, Edivani V, Morellato, Leonor Patrícia C, Wilson Fernandes, G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.07.2015; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Abortion; Applied Ecology; Biodiversity; Biomedical and Life Sciences; buds; cerrado; Community & Population Ecology; Dry season; Ecology; flowering; Fruits; herbivores; Herbivory; Life Sciences; natural enemies; ovules; Phenology; Physiological aspects; Plant Ecology; Plant growth; Plant reproduction; pods; Pollen; Pollinators; Rainy season; reproductive performance; Resource availability; seasonal variation; Seasonal variations; Seasons; seed germination; Seedlings; Seeds; shrubs; Terrestial Ecology; wet season; Resource limitation; Pre-dispersal seed predation; Cerrado; Pollen limitation; Phenology; Ovule fate

Disentangling the relative importance of biotic and abiotic constraints in plant reproduction is a major challenge in reproductive ecology. Here, we tested the ‘resource limitation hypothesis’ that predicts a high-level ovule abortion under resource scarcity; the ‘flowering displacement hypothesis’...