Is reproductive allocation inSenecio vulgarisplastic?

Abstract

Several purported cases of plasticity in plant allocation patterns appear to be the effects of size and allometric growth (“apparent plasticity”). To ask whether there is true plasticity (i.e., a change in the allometric trajectory) in reproductive allocation in Senecio vulgaris L., we grew S. vulgaris plants at high and low levels of water, nutrients, and competition, and analyzed the relationship between vegetative and seed biomass. Plant size was the major determinant of reproductive output, accounting for 83% of the variation in log (seed mass). There were also significant effects of the treatments that were not due to size, accounting for an additional 9% of the variation. The treatments affected the allometric coefficient (intercept), not the allometric exponent (slope) of the relationship, reflecting a small but significant shift in the efficiency of conversion of total plant biomass into reproductive biomass. In a second experiment, we grew S. vulgaris plants at three nutrient levels and allowed all individuals to complete their life cycles. Again, nutrient level had a small but significant effect on the allometric coefficient. Plasticity in reproductive allocation exists, but is very limited. The primary effects of the environment on the reproductive output of S. vulgaris occur via plant size.