Air Pollution Effects on Plant Reproductive Processes and Possible Consequences to Their Population Biology

The important measure of Darwinian fitness is the number of offspring an individual contributes to the next generation. In higher plants, sexual reproduction provides seeds that offer the ecological advantages of dormancy and dispersal. Seeds also provide an array of individuals carrying recombinations of parental genetic material on which natural selection can operate. This chapter is concerned with the action of environmental factors, such as air pollution, on fertility through effects on pollen and stigma and their interactions at the time of pollination. Variation in the response of fertility to air pollutants within populations may change the levels of participation of individuals in the breeding systems. The effects on population genetics and population biology of such changes in fertility could have profound influences on the balance of natural ecosystems and their biological diversity.