Evolutionary significance and trade-offs in life-history traits associated to ecological specialization and mating systems in the liverwort genus Radula Dumort.

Shifts in mating systems are amongst the most common and important transitions in plants and are correlated with a suite of life-history traits. The evolution of mating systems and their relationships to gametophyte size, sexual reproduction, formation of asexual diaspores, and ecological specialization, is examined here in the leafy liverwort genus Radula.More specifically, we attempt to answer the following questions:(1)What is the ancestral mating system in Radula? (2)Are shifts from one mating system to another directional or random? (3)How does the evolution of mating systems correlate with the evolution of other related life history traits and, in particular, the specialization to temporary habitats? (4)What are the contingence relationships and order of acquisitionof those traits?