Geographical variation in cone volatile composition among populations of the African cycad Encephalartos villosus

Variation in traits across species distribution ranges is often indicative of diversifying evolution that can lead to speciation. Of particular interest is whether traits vary clinally or abruptly because the latter pattern can be indicative of incipient speciation. Understanding of intraspecific variation in chemical traits is still in its infancy because studies of population variation have tended to focus on morphology or neutral genetic markers. To address these issues, the composition of cone volatile odours was examined in ten populations of the South African cycad Encephalartos villosus across its range in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu Natal using headspace sampling and analysis by gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry. Because volatiles play a key role in attracting pollinators to cones of Encephalartos cycads and may thus reflect local adaptation to pollinators, pollinator assemblages were also investigated in the ten populations of E. villosus. Volatile compounds from populations in the north of the distribution range were dominated by unsaturated hydrocarbons, whereas, in the southern populations, nitrogen‐containing compound and terpenoids were the major compounds. A shift between southern and northern populations appeared to occur at the Umtamvuna River, where populations had odour profiles with components of both the northern and southern populations. However, one population in the north (Vernon Crookes Nature Reserve) had a quantitatively similar odour profile to the populations in the extreme south of the range. These results reveal strong interpopulation variation in the cone scent of E. villosus, including variation in the relative emission of dominant compounds that may play key functional role in this pollination system. However, pollinator assemblages did not differ across the different populations, which suggest that these patterns were produced by co‐evolution or drift, rather than by pollinator shifts. © 2012 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2012, 106 , 514–527.