Does selfing or outcrossing promote local adaptation?

The degree to which plants self-fertilize may impact their potential for genetic adaptation. Given that the mating system influences genetic processes within and among populations, the mating system could limit or promote local adaptation. I conducted a literature survey of published reciprocal transplant experiments in plant populations to quantify the effect of mating system on the magnitude of local adaptation. Mating system had no effect on local adaptation. I detected no effect when species were categorized as either self-compatible or self-incompatible or when accounting for environmental differences between source populations. The results suggest that, despite limited genetic variation in selfing species and greater potential for gene flow in outcrossing species, mating system has little influence on adaptation of populations.

植物自交的程度，可能会影响其遗传适应的潜能。鉴于交配系统会影响种群内部及种群间的遗传过程，其可能会限制或促进种群的本地适应。本研究针对已发表的植物种群互惠移植实验开展了文献调研，以量化交配系统对本地适应程度的影响。研究结果显示，交配系统对本地适应并无显著影响。当将物种划分为自交亲和类群与自交不亲和类群，或是校正源种群间的环境差异时，均未检测到交配系统的显著效应。本研究结果表明，尽管自交物种的遗传变异较为有限，而异交物种的基因流潜能更高，但交配系统对种群适应的影响整体较弱。