Abstract
A number of plant traits influence the success of fertilization and reproduction in plants. Collectively these traits representecological syndromes that are of evolutionary significance. However, while an association between mating system and colonizingability has been proposed, the existence of a broader relationship between mating system and a species’ position inecological succession has not been extensively investigated. Grime’s CSR theory stresses that an ecological succession caninvolve changes from colonizing to either competitive or stress-tolerant strategies. How distinct dimensions of competitivenessand stress tolerance covary with mating systems has still not been considered. We designed a comparative approach toevaluate the link between mating system, life form and CSR strategies for 1996 herbaceous and woody species. We foundthat CSR strategies are significantly related to mating systems. Ruderal species – colonizers in early succession – weremostly selfers while more competitive species were more often outcrossers. On the other hand, greater physiological stresstolerance was associated with mixed mating systems. Outcrossing is classically expected to be advantageous for most lifehistory strategies other than colonizers, but we suggest that reproductive assurance can counterbalance this effect in stressfulenvironments where populations are sparse and pollinators are rare. Therefore, our results emphasize that competition andabiotic stresses are not equivalent selective pressures on the evolution of mating systems. Finally, we found plant life span toconvey additional information on mating system variation, supporting its role for mating system evolution. These findingsencourage further investigation of the evolutionary role of ecological strategies as syndromes of traits and suggest that theemergence of large databases of plant traits will help address the major evolutionary hypotheses on such syndromes.