For Sh. cordifolia, trends observed among treatments for seed germination rate and seedling height suggest hybrid vigor or luxuriance in progeny derived from between-forest crosses. This finding is tentative, however, due to the small sample sizes involved with the between-forest crosses for the seed germination and later stages. Hybrid vigor in Fstep step one progeny is consistent with the model for outbreeding depression through the disruption of coadapted gene complexes. According to this model, F1 hybrid vigor results from increased heterozygosity, with subsequent hybrid breakdown in the Fdos generation from the disruption of parental genomes during F1 gametogenesis (Templeton, 1986). Continue reading “Crossbreed vigor inside the interpopulation crosses followed closely by a decrease inside the F”