PHENOTYPIC PLASTICITY, PARENTAL EFFECTS, AND PARENTAL CARE IN PLANTS: AN EXAMINATION OF SPIKE REFLECTANCE IN PLANTAGO LANCEOLATA (PLANTAGINACEAE)
- UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Elizabeth P. Lacey, Professor (Creator)
- Institution
- The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
- Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Abstract: We explore the relationships among phenotypic plasticity, parental effects, and parental care in plants by presenting data from four
experiments examining reflectance/color patterns in Plantago lanceolata. In three experiments, we measured spike (inflorescence)
reflectance between 362 and 850 nm using a spectrophotometerw ith an integratings phere. Experimentss how that (1) spike reflectance
changes seasonally within and outside the visible portion of the spectrum of radiant energy, (2) increasing ambient temperature causes
an individual plant to produce flowering and fruiting spikes that reflect more/lighten in color (the greatest changes occur in the regions
around 550 nm and between 750 and 850 nm, the visible and near-infrared regions, respectively), (3) responses are reversible, (4)
genotypes within populations and populations from different latitudes differ in mean reflectance and degree of phenotypic plasticity.
In a fourth experiment, we measured internal spike temperature. Darker spikes, those produced at lower temperature, got hotter than
did lighter spikes in full sun. Thus, plants can partially thermoregulater eproductiona nd the embryonic development of their offspring.
In light of a previous experiment, data suggest that thermoregulationp roduces adaptive parentale ffects and is a mechanism by which
P. lanceolata provides parental care.
PHENOTYPIC PLASTICITY, PARENTAL EFFECTS, AND PARENTAL CARE IN PLANTS: AN EXAMINATION OF SPIKE REFLECTANCE IN PLANTAGO LANCEOLATA (PLANTAGINACEAE)
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Additional Information
- Publication
- American Journal of Botany 92(6): 920-930. 2005
- Language: English
- Date: 2005
- Keywords
- North Carolina, parental care, parental effects, phenotypic plasticity, Plantaginaceae, Plantago lanceolata, reflectance, thermoregulation