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Exploration of sexual dimorphism of Taxus baccata L. needles in natural populations.
Stefanović, Milena
Nikolić, Biljana M.
Matić, Rada
Popović, Zorica
Vidaković, Vera
Bojović, Srđan
Needle morphology and intraspecific variability of Taxus baccata L. were examined for the first timein Serbian natural populations (in the central Balkans). Ageometric morphometric approach was used to assesssize and shape variation of needles and to address questions of sexual dimorphism and phenotypic plasticity. Population-specific sexual size dimorphism wasfound. In the Tara population, females had larger needles than males and this was in accordance with earlier reports on T. baccata dimorphism. We found it unusual that in the other two populations, Kopaonik and Malinik, sexual size dimorphism was constrained and the sexes had needles of equal size. Multivariate analysis of needle shape revealed that the Tara population differed from the other two populations and was characterized by straighter, more symmetric needles. The absence of sexual size dimorphism and the less symmetrical shape of needles could be signs of a deviation from optimal conditions for yew in the Kopaonik and Malinik popu lations as regards mean annual temperature, precipitation, humidity and soil quality. There is also anindication that sexual size dimorphism in needles arises from a modification in female morphology and that female yews carry more information about climate.However, the conclusions presented in this study have certain limitations because of the small number of individuals in the Tara population (only 3 female and 4 male plants) that represent the quasi-total of adult yews at this site.
engleski
2017
Ovo delo je licencirano pod uslovima licence
Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 - Creative Commons Autorstvo 4.0 International License.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
"Taxus, Morphology, Geometric morphometrics, Sexual dimorphism, Phenotypic plasticity, Relict."
10.1007/s00468-017-1579-6