ArticleAnnals of botany2026
Diverging sex ratios in dioecious Proteaceae are exacerbated by anthropogenic disruptions to the fire cycle.
Article in Annals of botany, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
aimsSecondary sex ratios in dioecious plant species often deviate from the expected 1:1 primary male-to-female ratio due to differential survival rates. Such deviations in life-history strategies, along with diverging reproductive trade-offs, have been used for assessing reproductive costs in plants. In the fire-prone fynbos biome, previous studies on sex ratios and reproductive costs in dioecious Proteaceae have produced conflicting results, warranting further investigation. We examined whether obligate reseeding serotinous Leucadendron and Aulax species (Proteaceae) experience higher reproductive cost in males, females, or both equally.
methodsWe analysed sex ratios across populations of varying ages and assessed individual health through canopy cover scores. In addition, we conducted nutrient analysis to quantify allocation to vegetative versus reproductive structures. KEY
resultsWe found no evidence that primary sex ratios differ from 1:1, but clear evidence of secondary sex ratios becoming increasingly male-biased with age. Predictions indicated that a typical 30-year-old population would have a sex ratio of 0.67 (95 % CI 0.52, 0.81), corresponding to twice as many males as females. In older, more male-biased populations, females exhibited lower health scores. While total nutrient content did not differ between the sexes, females allocated a greater proportion of total nutrients to their reproductive cone structures.
conclusionsOur results suggest that females experience higher reproductive costs, which contribute to increased female mortality over time, resulting in male-biased sex ratios in older populations. Anthropogenic fire suppression likely contributes to this trend by allowing populations to survive beyond the natural fire-return interval for fynbos vegetation. These altered population dynamics could undermine long-term population viability and ecosystem stability in fire-adapted dioecious Proteaceae of the fynbos.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.