Life-history characteristics and climate correlates of dioecious plant species in central southern Australia

Abstract

Context The proportion of dioecious species can vary considerably among climates and habitats. However, studies often involve isolated communities or large diverse areas and fail to capture how proportions vary across diverse landscapes. Aims To identify (1) life-history associations of terrestrial dioecious plant species in central southern Australia, (2) whether proportion of dioecy varies spatially across central southern Australia, and (3) whether proportion of dioecy is correlated with life-history and/or climate factors. Methods Species growth form, pollination mechanisms and seed-dispersal features were extracted from herbarium databases to determine potential dioecy-linked traits. Distribution data for native terrestrial species in 66 Interim Biogeographical Regionalisation of Australia subregions were extracted from the Australasian Virtual Herbarium to calculate the proportion of total native species richness that are dioecious. Climate data for each subregion were also obtained from Terrestrial Ecology Research Network databases to investigate relationships among climate, life-history traits and dioecy. Key results Woodiness, abiotic pollination and endozoochory were more prevalent in dioecious than non-dioecious taxa. Proportion of dioecy ranged from 1.7% to 8.5% among subregions and correlated negatively with annual temperature range, January to March rainfall and precipitation seasonality and with average annual daily mean, minimum, maximum and average annual minimum temperature. The highest-ranked models of dioecy incorporated the additive effects of the relative proportion of woody species and either annual temperature ranges, January to March rainfall or average annual daily maximum temperature. Conclusions Dioecy was associated with woodiness, abiotic pollination and endozoochory, in line with studies of other flora, with the model of stable temperature range and woodiness being the highest-ranked model of dioecy. Implications Areas with higher proportions of dioecy can be targeted for future investigations into dioecious plant ecology to aid conservation and ecosystem management.