Dl. Byers, EFFECT OF CROSS PROXIMITY ON PROGENY FITNESS IN A RARE AND A COMMON SPECIES OF EUPATORIUM (ASTERACEAE), American journal of botany, 85(5), 1998, pp. 644-653
Offspring from matings between near neighbors may exhibit lower fitnes
s relative to offspring front more distant matings due to spatial stru
cturing of populations resulting from limited dispersal of pollen and
seed. This response. which can be interpreted as inbreeding depression
, is studied in the rare species, Eupatorium resinosum, and a closely
related congener, E. perfoliatum, through the use of hand pollinations
representing three distance classes (near-within a population, far-wi
thin a population, and between populations) and an assay of the offspr
ing in an experimental plot, Early traits such as seed mass and first-
year stem length were not significantly affected by the cross type, al
though they were affected by maternal parentage. Size and reproduction
in the second field season increased with increased pollen donor dist
ance from the maternal plant. Cross type was significant for many trai
ts in the second field season, indicating inbreeding depression in cro
sses of neighbors (for E. resinosum) and hybrid vigor between populati
ons (both species). This suggests that the rare species, E. resinosum,
had a more spatially structured population than E. perfoliatum. The i
mplications of these results for conservation of rare species indicate
that protection of habitats sufficient for large populations is neces
sary to maintain genetic diversity since each population likely consis
ts of many smaller subpopulations.