Male‐biased nectar production in a protandrous herb matches predictions of sexual selection theory in plants

Abstract

Nectar production may disproportionately benefit male relative to female pollination success. In such cases, sexual selection is often suggested as the cause of asymmetric benefits, yet sexual selection in plants-particularly plants with hermaphroditic flowers-is infrequently tested empirically. Here, I used a protandrous herb with male-biased nectar production (Chrysothemis friedrichsthaliana, Gesneriaceae) to test predictions from sexual selection theory. During three flowering seasons, I measured nectar production, pollinator visits, and male and female fecundity following different numbers of cross-pollination events. In accordance with sexual selection predictions, (1) nectar production was greater during the male phase by at least 65%; (2) visits by the main pollinator (hummingbird Phaethornis striigularis) were limiting for part of the season, indicating that plants had to compete for pollinator visits; (3) pollinators spent 53% more time per visit and made 86% more visits to male- vs. female-phase flowers, suggesting that nectar increased male more than female pollination success; and (4) female fecundity was maximized by one visit, whereas male fecundity continued to increase with additional visits. Autonomous self-pollination further reduced visit requirements for maximum female seed set. These findings match specific sexual selection predictions: they link an observable male bias in a secondary sexual trait (nectar) to positive responses of mating participants (pollinators), resulting in more mating opportunities for mate-limited males, relative to apparently resource-limited females. This field-testing of theoretical predictions provides unique evidence that sexual selection helps maintain nectar production patterns in this and, quite likely, other hermaphroditic plant species.