Plant hybrid zones affect biodiversity: Tools for a genetic-based understanding of community structure
- Northern Arizona Univ., Flagstaff, AZ (United States)
- Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Lethbridge, Alberta (Canada)
- Univ. of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania (Australia)
Plant hybrid zones are dynamic centers of ecological and evolutionary processes for plants and their associated communities. Studies in the wild and in gardens with synthetic crosses showed that hybrid eucalypts supports the greatest species richness and abundances of insect and fungal taxa. In an updated review of 152 case studies of taxa associated with diverse hybridizing systems, there were 43 (28%) cases of hybrids being more susceptible than their parent species, 7 (5%) resistant, 35 (23%) additive, 35 (23%) dominant, and 32 (21%) showed no response to hybridization. Thus, most taxa respond to hybrids in ways that result in equal or greater abundance, and hybrids tend to accumulate the taxa of their parent species. These studies suggest that genetic-based plant traits affect the distribution of many species and that the variation in hybrids can be used as tools to examine the genetic components of community structure and biodiversity.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- National Science Foundation, Washington, DC (United States); USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FG03-94ER61849
- OSTI ID:
- 345121
- Journal Information:
- Ecology, Vol. 80, Issue 2; Other Information: PBD: Mar 1999
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Effect of aging on lignin content, composition and enzymatic saccharification in Corymbia hybrids and parental taxa between years 9 and 12
Evaluating the influence of life‐history characteristics on genetic structure: a comparison of small mammals inhabiting complex agricultural landscapes