Age and Size Structure in Populations of a Long-Lived Dioecious Geophyte: Borderea pyrenaica (Dioscoreaceae)

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Abstract
The age, size, and reproductive status were determined for plants in three populations of the dioecious Borderea pyrenaica, an endemic geophyte of the Pyrenees. Age determination showed that this small alpine plant spends at least 10-20 yr in the juvenile phase. The oldest plant was 305 yr old, which represents one of the longest life spans recorded for any herbaceous plant. Simple mathematical models were fitted to describe survivorship curves. In general, the negative exponential function described age structure better than the power function. Age and size distributions showed markedly different profiles in two of the three populations, indicating that the size structure cannot be used to infer the age structure of these populations. Female plants began flowering at a larger size than males, whereas males were, on average, larger than females among old adults. Therefore, age structure will influence the relative size of adult male and female plants in a population.

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