Journal
JOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY
Volume 16, Issue 6, Pages 1168-1176Publisher
BLACKWELL PUBLISHING LTD
DOI: 10.1046/j.1420-9101.2003.00618.x
Keywords
fitness components; frugivory; fruit size; gape limitation; seed dispersal; seed size; seedling survival; seed-seedling conflicts
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Recent evidence indicates that fruit size has evolved according to dispersers' size. This is hypothesized to result from a balance between factors favouring large seeds and dispersers setting the maximum fruit size. This hypothesis assumes that (1) the size of fruits that can be consumed by dispersers is limited, (2) fruit and seed size are positively correlated, and (3) the result of multiple selection pressures on seed size is positive. Our studies on the seed dispersal mutualism of Olea europaea have supported the first and second assumptions, but valid tests of the third assumption are still lacking. Here we confirm the third assumption. Using multiplicative fitness components, we show that conflicting selection pressures on seed size during and after dispersal reverse the negative pattern of selection exerted by dispersers.
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