| Abstract Detail
Ecology / Ecologie (CBA/ABC) Andrew, Rose L. [1], Rieseberg, Loren H. [2]. Seed size variation associated with ecology in sand dune sunflowers. Wild sunflowers present some excellent examples of ecological speciation and inhabit a very broad range of challenging environments. Intra-specific variation can also allow populations of single species to occupy very different habitats. A striking example is Helianthus petiolaris, which can grow in active sand dunes, instead of its usual sandy soil habitat. We have studied seed morphology in across a cline from typical non-dune habitats into a large shifting dune. The major finding is that plants in dune habitats produce dramatically larger seeds than plants growing outside the dunefield. We speculate that introgression from nearby congeneric species may have enabled the morphological divergence of the dune populations and that larger seeds may offer benefits for seedling emergence and rapid root growth.
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1 - University of British Columbia, Botany, 6270 University Blvd, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada
2 - Univeristy of British Columbia, Botany, 6270 University Blvd, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada
Keywords:
Helianthus
parallel evolution
microarray
gene expression.
Presentation Type: Poster:Posters for Sections
Session: P
Location: Ball Room & Party Room/SUB
Date: Monday, July 28th, 2008
Time: 12:30 PM
Number: PGP003
Abstract ID:884 |
