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2025 Poster Session B
B22 - Plant plasticity in reproductive allocation in response to mate and herbivore environment
Plants must allocate a limited amount of resources among growth, reproduction, and defense.
2025 Poster Session B
B22 - Plant plasticity in reproductive allocation in response to mate and herbivore environment
Mentor: Deidra Jacobsen, Ph.D.
Plants must allocate a limited amount of resources among growth, reproduction, and defense. Resources devoted to flowers and fruits can depend on the relative benefit of selfing (i.e. reproductive assurance) and outcrossing (i.e. genetic diversity).
Herbivore stress may reinforce selective seed development, favoring outcrossed over selfed seeds if insect damage limits overall seed production and fitness.
Many plants have mechanisms such as fruit abortion or abscission to reduce damage from frugivores that feed on developing fruits and seeds.