Multiple reproductive barriers separate recently diverged sunflower ecotypes

Measuring reproductive barriers between groups of organisms is an effective way to determine the traits and mechanisms that impede gene flow. However, to understand the ecological and evolutionary factors that drive speciation, it is important to distinguish between the barriers that arise early in the speciation process and those that arise after speciation is largely complete. In this paper we comprehensively test for reproductive isolation between recently diverged (< 10,000 years bp) dune and non-dune ecotypes of the prairie sunflower, Helianthus petiolaris. We find reproductive barriers acting at multiple stages of hybridization, including premating, postmating-prezygotic, and postzygotic barriers, despite the recent divergence. Barriers include extrinsic selection against immigrants and hybrids, a shift in pollinator assemblage, and post-pollination assortative mating. Together these data suggest that multiple barriers can be important for reducing gene flow in the earliest stages of speciation. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved