Without going into too much detail, it has about 4 genera; of
them, Chimaphila has pollen organized into groups of about a
hundred grains! It means that when the polyad (that’s what the
clump is called) lands on a stigma, multiple ovules (females)
will get sperm (males) from the same father, and the resulting
offspring should be much closer genetically than if multiple
fathers contributed in equal measures. (My intuition is that
fertilization is not frequent in these plants, though I have seen
the fruits.) That is definite evidence for kin selection, isn’t it?
However, why is it not more widespread? “Three other generain the Pyrolaceae, Orthilia , Pyrola, and Moneses, have flowers with numerous ovules like that of Chimaphila, but the first of these produces pollen monads and the two others
pollen tetrads.”
Also, [I think that] at least in Ukraine Orthilia and Pyrola are
more common than Chimaphila (which is, even if actually true,
only anecdotal evidence considering the total ranges of the
genera.) (Another problem is that all those plants need fungal symbionts, and there’s little data on their diversity.)
What differencies in seed quality & dispersion, and population strategies would kin selection predict for Chimaphila and (Pyrola and Orthilia)?
Sorry; your example is interesting and potentially useful, but I don’t follow your reasoning. This manner of fertilization would be evidence that kin selection should be strong in Chimaphila, but I don’t see how this manner of fertilization is itself evidence that kin selection has taken place. Also, I have no good intuitions about what differences kin selection predicts in the variables you mentioned, except that maybe dispersion would be greater in Chimaphila because of teh greater danger of inbreeding. Also, kin selection isn’t controversial, so I don’t know where you want to go with this comment.
Another interesting platform for kin vs. group selection is family Pyrolaceae (see Hideki Takahashi (1986) Pollen polyads and their variation in chimaphila (pyrolaceae), Grana, 25:3, 161-169) .
Without going into too much detail, it has about 4 genera; of them, Chimaphila has pollen organized into groups of about a hundred grains! It means that when the polyad (that’s what the clump is called) lands on a stigma, multiple ovules (females) will get sperm (males) from the same father, and the resulting offspring should be much closer genetically than if multiple fathers contributed in equal measures. (My intuition is that fertilization is not frequent in these plants, though I have seen the fruits.) That is definite evidence for kin selection, isn’t it? However, why is it not more widespread? “Three other generain the Pyrolaceae, Orthilia , Pyrola, and Moneses, have flowers with numerous ovules like that of Chimaphila, but the first of these produces pollen monads and the two others pollen tetrads.” Also, [I think that] at least in Ukraine Orthilia and Pyrola are more common than Chimaphila (which is, even if actually true, only anecdotal evidence considering the total ranges of the genera.) (Another problem is that all those plants need fungal symbionts, and there’s little data on their diversity.) What differencies in seed quality & dispersion, and population strategies would kin selection predict for Chimaphila and (Pyrola and Orthilia)?
Sorry; your example is interesting and potentially useful, but I don’t follow your reasoning. This manner of fertilization would be evidence that kin selection should be strong in Chimaphila, but I don’t see how this manner of fertilization is itself evidence that kin selection has taken place. Also, I have no good intuitions about what differences kin selection predicts in the variables you mentioned, except that maybe dispersion would be greater in Chimaphila because of teh greater danger of inbreeding. Also, kin selection isn’t controversial, so I don’t know where you want to go with this comment.