DOI: 10.5061/dryad.55186
title: Data from: Effects of pollination intensity on offspring number and quality in a wind-pollinated herb

description: Low pollination intensity may cause low seed set in plant populations and
 is thought to be responsible for evolutionary transitions from outcrossing
 to selfing, or from animal to wind pollination. Variation in pollination
 intensity may also affect seed quality both through its influence on the
 degree of pollen competition (with lower quality offspring produced under
 low pollen intensities) and through seed size–number trade-offs (with
 plants under low pollination intensity producing fewer but larger seeds).
 Here, we use a field experiment to examine the effects of pollination
 intensity on both quantity and quality of progeny. We manipulated pollen
 receipt to stigmas of the wind-pollinated dioecious plant Mercurialis
 annua by varying the distance of females from males. We then compared seed
 size and number, seedling growth and allocation to male and female
 function, for the progeny produced by females subjected to different
 pollination intensities. Our experiment revealed a reduction in pollen
 load with increasing distance to males, translating into large reductions
 in the number of seeds produced but only small effects on the performance
 of offspring. The main effect on offspring quality was through a seed
 size–number trade-off, with pollen-limited females producing fewer but
 larger seeds, which subsequently performed better. Sons and daughters were
 affected differently by this trade-off, pointing to gender-dependent
 effects of pollination intensity on progeny performance. Synthesis. Our
 results highlight the importance of pollination intensity on both the
 quantity and quality of progeny. Nevertheless, fitness calculations
 suggest that the enhanced quality of seed produced by pollen-limited
 mothers was not sufficient to offset their losses in terms of quantity.
description: Maternal plant
 traitsThe data result from a
 field experiment to examine the effects of pollination intensity on both
 quantity and quality of progeny. We manipulated pollen receipt to stigmas
 of the wind-pollinated dioecious plant Mercurialis annua by varying the
 distance of females from males. We then compared seed size and number,
 seedling growth and allocation to male and female function, for the
 progeny produced by females subjected to different pollination
 intensities. Contact persons: annemarie.labouche@gmail.com
 john.pannell@unil.ch 1) Labouche_et_al_2016_Maternal_plant_traits.txt Data
 collected on the maternal plants exposed to different level of pollination
 intensities. Definitions of column headings MotherID:Unique ID of the
 plant Mdirection: Directional transect on which the plant was setup
 Mdistance: Distance from pollen source of the plant (in meters)
 mother_mass: Mass of the dried plant (in g), including reproductive seeds
 mother_total_seed_mass: Mass of the seeds produced by the plant (in g)
 mother_veg_mass: Mass of the dried plant (in g) without reproductive parts
 mother_seed_number: Number of seeds produced by the plant
 (count)Labouche_et_al_2016_Maternal_plant_traits.txtOffspring traitsThe data result from a field experiment to examine the effects of pollination intensity on both quantity and quality of progeny. We manipulated pollen receipt to stigmas of the wind-pollinated dioecious plant Mercurialis annua by varying the distance of females from males. We then compared seed size and number, seedling growth and allocation to male and female function, for the progeny produced by females subjected to different pollination intensities. Contact persons: annemarie.labouche@gmail.com john.pannell@unil.ch 2) Labouche_et_al_2016_Offspring_traits.txt Data collected on the seeds and resulting offspring produced by the maternal plants exposed to different level of pollination intensities. Definitions of column headings seedID: Unique ID of the seed Mdirection: Directional transect on which the maternal plant was setup Mdistance: Distance from pollen source of the maternal plant (in meters) motherID: Unique ID of the maternal plant Mpollination: Pollination intensity treatment of the maternal plant; h=high (0.2 and 0.5m from males); l=low (20 and 25 m from males) seedmass: mass of the individual seed (in mg) seedcat: mass categories of the offspring as seed: A &lt;2; 2&lt;=B&lt;2.49; 2.54 germ: germination status of the seed (0=not germinated; 1=germinated) time-germ: number of days between sowing and full expansion of the cotyledons offspringID: Unique ID of the offspring (for germinated seeds) plotID: ID of the plot in which the seedling grew once in the common garden; ID range from 1 to 54, with 16 positions per plot position: Position of the offspring within its plot (ranges from 1 to 16) treatment: whether the offspring was growing with a competitor (hermaphrodite) or not. If the competitor survived (treatment = I), if it died due to transplantation issues (treatment =I0); if the offspring grew alone (treatment = C). offspring_sex: Sex of the offspring (M=male; F=female) offspring_survival: 1= the offspring was still alive at the end of the experiment; 0= the offspring died in the course of the experiment offspring_height: Height of the offspring (in cm) on the day of harvesting offspring_mass: Mass of the dried offspring (in g), including reproductive parts (seeds for females) offspring_veg_mass: Mass of the dried offspring (in g) without reproductive parts offspring_total_seed_mass: Mass of the seeds produced by the offspring (in g) offspring_seed_number: Number of seeds produced by the offspring (count) offspring_male_allocation: Mass of male inflorescences (inflorescences stems + dried flowers) in mgLabouche_et_al_2016_Offspring_traits.txt