Sexual dimorphism in flowering plants: a comparative analysis

Edith Cowan University, Australia

Updated: 9 months ago
Location: Mount Lawley, WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Deadline: ;

Project Outline:

Ever since Charles Darwin wrote about the puzzle of sexual dimorphism, understanding the drivers underying this phenomenon has remained an ongoing challenge in evolutionary biology. Separate sexes (dioecy) is rare in plants (~8% of species), yet the drivers of sexual dimorphism and the extent to which this is phylogenetically constrained remains unclear. In this project, we will build upon an exisiting database and address: (1) which life history traits predict the strength of sexual dimorphism, (2) how sex ratios and the directionality relate to sexual dimorphism, and (3) how sexual dimorphism is distributed across flowering plants and the genetic basis of dioecy.

Project Area: Evolutionary ecology / plant evolution

Research Centre: Conservation and Biodiversity Research Centre (CBRC)

Supervisor(s): Dr David Field and Dr Melinda Pickup (Greening Australia)

Project level: Honours / Masters

Funding: No external funding

Start date: Any

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