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Science 13 August 1976:
Vol. 193. no. 4253, pp. 597 - 599
DOI: 10.1126/science.193.4253.597
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Articles

Differential Resource Utilization by the Sexes of Dioecious Plants

D. CARL FREEMAN 1, LIONEL G. KLIKOFF 2, and KIMBALL T. HARPER 3

1 Department of Botany and Range Science, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah 84602
2 Department of Biology, Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania 16335
3 Department of Botany and Range Science, Brigham Young University

The distribution of male and female plants was examined in five dioecious, wind-pollinated species representing five plant families and two classes (gymnosperms and angiosperms). The arid to semiarid habitats occupied by these species in northern Utah were stratified for sampling into two categories: chronically xeric and seasonally moist. The results show that for all species, males are more abundant on xeric microsites, while females are over represented on the moister parts of each local environment. Differential distribution of the sexes along a soil moisture gradient is a strategy that maximizes seed set of females and pollen dispersal of males; it also tends to minimize intraspecific competition between the sexes.

Submitted on January 29, 1976
Accepted on May 4, 1976


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