Review article2002Peer reviewedOpen access
Sexual selection: an evolutionary force in plants
Skogsmyr, Io; Lankinen, Åsa
Abstract
Sexual selection has traditionally been used to explain exaggerated sexual traits in male animals. Today the concept has been developed and various other sexually related traits have been suggested to evolve in the same manner. In nearly all new areas where the theory of sexual selection has been applied, there has been an intense debate as to whether the application is justified. Is it the case that some scientists are all too ready to employ fashionable ideas? Or are there too many dogmatic researchers refusing to accept that science develops and old ideas are transformed? Maybe the controversies are simply a reflection of the difficulty of defining a theory under constant re-evaluation. Thus, we begin by summarizing the theory of sexual selection in order to assess the influence of sexual selection on the evolution of plant morphology. We discuss empirical findings concerning potentially affected traits. Although we have tried to address criticisms fairly, we still conclude that sexual selection can be a useful tool when studying the evolution of reproductive traits in plants. Furthermore, by including the evidence from an additional kingdom, a fuller understanding of the processes involved in sexual selection can be gained.
Keywords
good genes; incompatibility; mate choice; parent-offspring conflict; pollen competition; pollinator attraction; secondary sexual character; selective abortion
Published in
Biological Reviews
2002, Volume: 77, number: 4, pages: 537-562
Publisher: CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS
UKÄ Subject classification
Evolutionary Biology
Ecology
Publication identifier
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1464793102005973
Permanent link to this page (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/42106