Pine wood nematode(B ursaphelenchus xylophilus),one of the most destructive invasive species,has caused extremely serious economic,ecological and social losses in many countries throughout the world.Since the high rep...Pine wood nematode(B ursaphelenchus xylophilus),one of the most destructive invasive species,has caused extremely serious economic,ecological and social losses in many countries throughout the world.Since the high reproductive rate of B.xylophilus PWN is the main cause of rapid death of its pine hosts(Pinus spp.),understanding the reproductive and population biology and the ecology of this nmatode are of great importance.This study mainly focused on analyzing the mating process and population structure under different combinations of sex ratios for mating.Reproductive efficiency of B.xylophilus peaked when the sex ratio(female to male)was 3.4:1.Phases of the mating process for the different sex-ratio combinations indicated that B.xylophilus had evolved alternative reproductive strategies to cope with complex copulating conditions to obtain a suitable population structure for further propagation.This research provides fundamental information on the mechanism that is responsible for the rapid population growth of B.xylophilus.展开更多
Maximum plant height(H_(max)),stem tissue mass density(SD),leaf mass per area(LMA),and relative growth rate(RGR)have all been linked to flowering phenology.However,it is still unknown whether these functional traits v...Maximum plant height(H_(max)),stem tissue mass density(SD),leaf mass per area(LMA),and relative growth rate(RGR)have all been linked to flowering phenology.However,it is still unknown whether these functional traits varying with flowering phenology are related to other floral traits associated with pollinator preference and reproductive success.We investigated the relationship between vegetative and floral traits,as well as the rates of insect visitation and seed set of fiveGentiana species in eastern Tibetan meadows.Our results showed that flowering onset and flowering offset time were all found to be positively correlated with the H_(max),SD,and LMA,but negatively correlated with the RGR.Flowering onset time was positively correlated with corolla diameter and pollen grain number,whereas was negatively correlated with flower number and flower longevity.The rates of insect visitation were positively related to flowering onset time,pollen grain number,corolla diameter,and seed set,but negatively related to flower number and longevity.Early flowering species have higher RGR but lower SD,LMA andH_(max),as well as smaller flowers,fewer pollen grains,longer flower longevity,and lower insect visitation rates than late-flowering plant species.Our findings indicate that floral traits are related to vegetative traits in Gentiana species.Also these plant trait relationships were associated with pollinator preference,and plant reproductive success of eastern Tibetan meadows.We speculate that these traits relationships are likely adaptive in unpredictable and often pollinator-limited environments in the Tibet alpine meadows.展开更多
基金funded by the National Key R&D Program of China(2018YFC1200400)。
文摘Pine wood nematode(B ursaphelenchus xylophilus),one of the most destructive invasive species,has caused extremely serious economic,ecological and social losses in many countries throughout the world.Since the high reproductive rate of B.xylophilus PWN is the main cause of rapid death of its pine hosts(Pinus spp.),understanding the reproductive and population biology and the ecology of this nmatode are of great importance.This study mainly focused on analyzing the mating process and population structure under different combinations of sex ratios for mating.Reproductive efficiency of B.xylophilus peaked when the sex ratio(female to male)was 3.4:1.Phases of the mating process for the different sex-ratio combinations indicated that B.xylophilus had evolved alternative reproductive strategies to cope with complex copulating conditions to obtain a suitable population structure for further propagation.This research provides fundamental information on the mechanism that is responsible for the rapid population growth of B.xylophilus.
基金funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China(31870393,31270513)the open project from the Ecological Security and Protection Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province(ESP111503)。
文摘Maximum plant height(H_(max)),stem tissue mass density(SD),leaf mass per area(LMA),and relative growth rate(RGR)have all been linked to flowering phenology.However,it is still unknown whether these functional traits varying with flowering phenology are related to other floral traits associated with pollinator preference and reproductive success.We investigated the relationship between vegetative and floral traits,as well as the rates of insect visitation and seed set of fiveGentiana species in eastern Tibetan meadows.Our results showed that flowering onset and flowering offset time were all found to be positively correlated with the H_(max),SD,and LMA,but negatively correlated with the RGR.Flowering onset time was positively correlated with corolla diameter and pollen grain number,whereas was negatively correlated with flower number and flower longevity.The rates of insect visitation were positively related to flowering onset time,pollen grain number,corolla diameter,and seed set,but negatively related to flower number and longevity.Early flowering species have higher RGR but lower SD,LMA andH_(max),as well as smaller flowers,fewer pollen grains,longer flower longevity,and lower insect visitation rates than late-flowering plant species.Our findings indicate that floral traits are related to vegetative traits in Gentiana species.Also these plant trait relationships were associated with pollinator preference,and plant reproductive success of eastern Tibetan meadows.We speculate that these traits relationships are likely adaptive in unpredictable and often pollinator-limited environments in the Tibet alpine meadows.
