Plant Mating Systems and Reproductive Strategies

Plant mating systems and reproductive strategies encompass the suite of mechanisms by which flowering plants achieve fertilisation and generate genetic variation. Most angiosperms are hermaphroditic and capable of both self-fertilisation and outcrossing, yet the balance of these modes varies widely across species, populations and environments. Selfing can provide reproductive assurance when pollinators or mates are scarce but often incurs inbreeding depression and reduced genetic diversity. Outcrossing promotes heterozygosity and adaptive potential but depends on biotic or abiotic pollen vectors. Between the extremes of obligate selfing and strict outcrossing lies a continuum of mixed mating systems shaped by floral morphology (such as herkogamy and dichogamy), genetic self-incompatibility systems, life-history traits, pollinator assemblages, population density and habitat stability. Additional strategies—including dioecy, clonality and cleistogamy—further modulate mating outcomes and influence gene flow. The evolution of these systems impacts speciation, adaptation to environmental change and the efficacy of restoration and crop-breeding programmes, underscoring their fundamental importance for biodiversity and food security.

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Plant Mating Systems and Reproductive Strategies publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in plant mating systems and reproductive strategies across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Autogamy: Self-fertilisation within a single flower.

Geitonogamy: Transfer of pollen between different flowers on the same plant.

Herkogamy: Spatial separation of male and female organs within a flower to reduce self-pollination.

Self-incompatibility: Genetic mechanism that prevents self-fertilisation by recognising and rejecting own pollen.

Mixed mating system: Coexistence of selfing and outcrossing within a species or population.

Reproductive assurance: Strategy by which selfing ensures seed set when pollinators or mates are limited.

Inbreeding depression: Reduced fitness of offspring resulting from mating between genetically related individuals.

References

1. Plant Mating Systems Often Vary Widely Among Populations. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (2018).
2. Herkogamy and Its Effects on Mating Patterns in Arabidopsis thaliana. PLOS ONE (2013).
3. High lifetime inbreeding depression counteracts the reproductive assurance benefit of selfing in a mass-flowering shrub. BMC Ecology and Evolution (2014).
4. Selfing rates vary with floral display, pollinator visitation and plant density in natural populations of Mimulus ringens. Journal of Evolutionary Biology (2021).
5. A novel case of autogamy and cleistogamy in Dendrobium wangliangii: A rare orchid distributed in the dry‐hot valley. Ecology and Evolution (2019).
6. Why Self-fertilizing Plants Still Exist in Wild Populations: Diversity Assurance through Stress-Induced Male Sterility May Promote Selective Outcrossing and Recombination. Agronomy (2020).