The evolution of separate sexes: a focus on the ecological context

Abstract

Abstract Sexual-system evolution has a long rich history of theoretical study, which has guided empirical explorations and the recent expansion of ideas concerning the role of ecological context in gender separation. ın this chapter, ı first provide a brief overview of theoretical understanding of a prominent sexual-system transition, namely, the gynodioecy pathway for the evolution of dioecy from hermaphroditism. ı then review empirical support for several predictions based on theory and use these as a springboard to both highlight the strengths of existing theory and show how its limitations have helped reveal the importance of ecological context for the evolution of dioecy.