title: The scope of Baker's law.
abstract: Baker's law refers to the tendency for species that establish on islands by long-distance dispersal to show an increased capacity for self-fertilization because of the advantage of self-compatibility when colonizing new habitat. Despite its intuitive appeal and broad empirical support, it has received substantial criticism over the years since it was proclaimed in the 1950s, not least because it seemed to be contradicted by the high frequency of dioecy on islands. Recent theoretical work has again questioned the generality and scope of Baker's law. Here, we attempt to discern where the idea is useful to apply and where it is not. We conclude that several of the perceived problems with Baker's law fall away when a narrower perspective is adopted on how it should be circumscribed. We emphasize that Baker's law should be read in terms of an enrichment of a capacity for uniparental reproduction in colonizing situations, rather than of high selfing rates. We suggest that Baker's law might be tested in four different contexts, which set the breadth of its scope: the colonization of oceanic islands, metapopulation dynamics with recurrent colonization, range expansions with recurrent colonization, and colonization through species invasions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: John R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Pannell
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, West Chester University, West Chester, PA, 19383, USA.
authors.forename: Josh R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Auld
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biology, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN, 55108, USA.
authors.forename: Yaniv
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Brandvain
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, 3800, Australia.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Burd
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 99164, USA.
authors.forename: Jeremiah W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Busch
authors.affiliation: CEFE UMR 5175, CNRS, Universite de Montpellier, Université Paul-Valery Montpellier, EPHE, CEFE 34293, Montpellier Cedex 05, France.
authors.forename: Pierre-Olivier
authors.initials: PO
authors.lastname: Cheptou
authors.affiliation: Kellogg Biological Station and Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, Hickory Corners, MI, 49060, USA.
authors.forename: Jeffrey K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Conner
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN, 55108, USA.
authors.forename: Emma E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Goldberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15260, USA.
authors.forename: Alannie-Grace
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Grant
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biology, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN, 55108, USA.
authors.forename: Dena L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Grossenbacher
authors.affiliation: Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA.
authors.forename: Stephen M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Hovick
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, 840 W Taylor St, M/C 067, Chicago, IL, 60607, USA.
authors.forename: Boris
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Igic
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15260, USA.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kalisz
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biogeography and Ecology, Department of Geography, University of the Aegean, 81100 Mytilene, Lesvos, Greece.
authors.forename: Theodora
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Petanidou
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Science, University of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 94117-1049, USA.
authors.forename: April M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Randle
authors.affiliation: CEFE UMR 5175, CNRS, Universite de Montpellier, Université Paul-Valery Montpellier, EPHE, CEFE 34293, Montpellier Cedex 05, France.|Departmento Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Granada, UGR, 18071, Granada, Spain.|Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas, EEZA-CSIC, Carretera de Sacramento s/n, La Cañada de San Urbano, EEZA 04120, Almeria, Spain.
authors.forename: Rafael Rubio
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: de Casas
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, 7602, South Africa.
authors.forename: Anton
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pauw
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, T2N1N4, Canada.
authors.forename: Jana C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Vamosi
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, 32306, USA.
authors.forename: Alice A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Winn
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D062312:Islands; D063148:Plant Dispersal; D054817:Pollination; D057945:Self-Fertilization
keywords: colonization; invasive species; mate limitation; metapopulation; pollinator limitation; range expansion; reproductive assurance