DOI: 10.5061/dryad.9s4mw6mw2
title: Variation in pollen limitation among reproductive modules points to likely resource reallocation in the alpine plant <em>Veratrum grandiflorum</em>

description: Pollen limitation, a decrease in seed production due to insufficient
 pollen receipt, may influence plant demography and the evolution of sexual
 systems. Its empirical estimation of pollen supplementation of some of the
 flowers on an individual is well known to be prone to overestimation due
 to potential resource reallocation among the individual’s resource pools,
 from unpollinated flowers and inflorescences. Despite this, studies that
 evaluate the effect of resource reallocation simultaneously across
 different modular levels of an individual remain rare, especially in
 alpine plants. Here, we estimated pollen limitation at three modular
 levels (i.e., flower, raceme, and whole plant) in the perennial alpine
 herb Veratrum grandiflorum (Maxim. Ex Baker) Loes in the eastern Himalayan
 Hengduan Mountains. We used fruit set and seed production as two proxies
 for female reproductive success. Based on seed production, we found that
 pollen limitation differed significantly among modular levels, with the
 highest and lowest values being at the flower and whole-plant levels,
 respectively. In contrast, fruit set was relatively insensitive to pollen
 supplementation, so estimates of pollen limitation were low and did not
 differ among modular levels. These results point to resource reallocation
 for seed production among modules within individuals and highlight the
 importance of multi-modular and multi-metric approaches for accurately
 assessing pollen limitation.
description: # Variation in pollen limitation among reproductive modules points to
 likely resource reallocation in the alpine plant *Veratrum grandiflorum*
 We have submitted our raw data (**pollen.limitation_Data.csv**), derived
 data (**Fruit_Seed_Data.csv**), and R script
 (**pollen.limitation_Script.R**). ## Descriptions
 **pollen.limitation_Data.csv**: at the whole-plant level, we collected
 data based on racemes from the base to top. so, the dataset includes the
 number of hermaphroditic flowers and fruits corresponding to each raceme.
 However, at the raceme level and flower level, data were not collected for
 every raceme. 1.Number of variables: 8 2.Number of cases/rows: 129
 individuals 3.Variable List: *a) Individual*: individual identity *b)
 Pollination*: to which of the two treatments subjected, natural
 pollination (Natural) or pollen supplementation (Hand) *c) Level*: to
 which of the three levels subjected, whole_plant level (Individual),
 Raceme level (Inflorescence) or flower level (Flower). *d) Height*: height
 of plant (cm) *e) Total.number.inflo.*: total number of racemes *f)
 Inflore.*: order of racemes from the base to the top *g) Number.Herm.*:
 number of hermaphroditic flowers on the corresponding raceme *h)
 Number.Fruit*: number of fruits on the corresponding raceme *i)
 F1，F2，F3…F10*: number of seeds,1 to 10 means how many fruits we counted
 the seed production. **Fruit_Seed_Data.csv**: ##Fruit_Seed_Data.csv is a
 processed dataset derived from the raw measurements in
 ##pollen.limitation_Data.csv. It includes calculated values of fruit set
 and seed production per individual level, per raceme level and per flower
 level which were used for subsequent analyses. 1.Number of variables: 12
 2.Number of cases/rows: 98 (129 individuals) 3.Variable List: *a) Order*:
 the order of samples *b) Individual.hand*: the identity of whole_plant
 level (Individual) in pollen supplementation (Hand) *c) Total.Herm.hand*:
 number of hermaphroditic flowers in the treatment of pollen supplantation
 (Hand) *d) Total.Fruit.hand*: number of fruits in the treatment of pollen
 supplantation (Hand) *e) Fruiting.hand*: fruit rate of the treatment in
 pollen supplantation (Hand) *f) Individual.natural*: the identity of
 whole_plant level (Individual) in pollen supplementation (Hand) *g)
 Total.Herm.natural*: number of hermaphroditic flowers in the treatment of
 natural pollination (Natural) *h) Total.Fruit.natural*: number of fruits
 in the treatment of natural pollination (Natural) *i) Fruiting.natural*:
 fruit rate of the treatment in natural pollination *j) Level*: to which of
 the three levels subjected, whole_plant level (Individual), Raceme level
 (Inflorescence) or flower level (Flower) *k) Seeds.hand*: seed per fruit
 of the treatment in pollen supplantation (Hand) *l) Seeds.natural*: seed
 per fruit of the treatment in natural pollination (Natural) ##
 Code/Software R is required to run **pollen.limitation_Data.csv** and
 **Fruit_Seed_Data.csv**; the script was created using version 4.3.3.
 Annotations are provided throughout the script through 1) library loading,
 2) dataset loading and cleaning, 3) analyses, and 4) figure creation.