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Kemp JE, Telles FJ, Vallejo‐Marín M. Reduced visitation to buzz‐pollinated
Cyanella hyacinthoides
in the presence of other pollen sources in the hyperdiverse Cape Floristic Region. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e8784. [PMID: 35386882 PMCID: PMC8976283 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8784] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2021] [Revised: 02/27/2022] [Accepted: 03/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Many plant species have floral morphologies that restrict access to floral resources, such as pollen or nectar, and only a subset of floral visitors can perform the handling behaviors required to extract restricted resources. Due to the time and energy required to extract resources from morphologically complex flowers, these plant species potentially compete for pollinators with co‐flowering plants that have more easily accessible resources. A widespread floral mechanism restricting access to pollen is the presence of tubular anthers that open through small pores or slits (poricidal anthers). Some bees have evolved the capacity to remove pollen from poricidal anthers using vibrations, giving rise to the phenomenon of buzz‐pollination. These bee vibrations that are produced for pollen extraction are presumably energetically costly, and to date, few studies have investigated whether buzz‐pollinated flowers may be at a disadvantage when competing for pollinators’ attention with plant species that present unrestricted pollen resources. Here, we studied Cyanella hyacinthoides (Tecophilaeaceae), a geophyte with poricidal anthers in the hyperdiverse Cape Floristic Region of South Africa, to assess how the composition and relative abundance of flowers with easily accessible pollen affect bee visitation to a buzz‐pollinated plant. We found that the number of pollinator species of C. hyacinthoides was not influenced by community composition. However, visitation rates to C. hyacinthoides were reduced when the relative abundances of flowers with more accessible resources were high. Visitation rates were strongly associated with petal color, showing that flower color is important in mediating these interactions. We conclude that buzz‐pollinated plants might be at a competitive disadvantage when many easily accessible pollen sources are available, particularly when competitor species share its floral signals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jurene E. Kemp
- Biological and Environmental Sciences University of Stirling Stirling UK
| | - Francismeire J. Telles
- Programa de Pós‐Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação de Recursos Naturais Universidade Federal de Uberlândia Uberlândia MG Brazil
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Vissoto M, Vizentin-Bugoni J, Sendoya SF, Gomes GC, Dias RA. Plant height and spatial context influence individual connectivity and specialization on seed dispersers in a tree population. Oecologia 2022; 198:721-731. [PMID: 35292859 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-022-05142-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2021] [Accepted: 02/18/2022] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
While network analyses have stimulated a renewed interest in understanding patterns and drivers of specialization within communities, few studies have explored specialization within populations. Thus, in plant populations, causes and consequences of individual variation in their interactions with mutualistic animals remain poorly understood. Studying a Brazilian pepper (Schinus terebinthifolia) population, we measured the extent of individual variation in interactions with seed dispersers and tested whether connectivity (number of seed dispersers) and specialization (exclusiveness of partners) are associated with phenotypic and phenological traits of individuals and their spatial context. We found that: (i) individuals varied broadly in their connectivity and specialization on seed dispersers; (ii) phenotypic traits and spatial context matter more than fruiting duration in determining how many and how exclusive are seed dispersers of an individual; (iii) the individual-based network was nested and indicated that the less connected individuals were shorter, occurred in neighborhoods with fewer fruits, and tended to interact with a subset of the partners of more generalist individuals which, in turn, were taller and inserted in higher fruit density neighborhoods; (iv) modularity indicated the existence of subsets of individuals that interacted disproportionately with distinct groups of partners, which may occur due to differences in bird habitat use across the landscape. Our study underlines a remarkable interindividual variation that is overlooked when interactions are compiled to describe species-level interactions. Traits and spatial contexts that define variation among individuals may have important implications not only for fitness but also for sampling and description of interactions at species level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maiara Vissoto
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Animal, Departamento de Ecologia, Zoologia e Genética, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. .,Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.
| | - Jeferson Vizentin-Bugoni
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Animal, Departamento de Ecologia, Zoologia e Genética, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.,Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
| | - Sebastian F Sendoya
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Animal, Departamento de Ecologia, Zoologia e Genética, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
| | - Gustavo C Gomes
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Desenvolvimento Territorial e Sistemas Agroindustriais, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
| | - Rafael A Dias
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Animal, Departamento de Ecologia, Zoologia e Genética, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
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Valadão-Mendes LB, Rocha I, Meireles DAL, Leite FB, Sazima M, Maruyama PK, Brito VLG. Flower morphology and plant-bee pollinator interactions are related to stamen dimorphism in Melastomataceae. PLANT BIOLOGY (STUTTGART, GERMANY) 2022; 24:240-248. [PMID: 34741381 DOI: 10.1111/plb.13359] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2021] [Accepted: 10/11/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Approximately 20,000 species of flowering plant offer mainly pollen to their pollinators, generally bees. Stamen dimorphism, a floral trait commonly present in some pollen flowers, is thought to be associated with exclusive pollen provision for highly effective bee pollinators. Notwithstanding, little is known about how stamen dimorphism is related to other floral morphological traits and, consequently, plant-pollinator interactions at the community scale. Here we investigated the relationship between stamen dimorphism and other floral morphological traits, as well as the interactions with pollinators in plants of Melastomataceae. We characterized each plant species as stamen dimorphic or stamen isomorphic according to differences in size and shape between stamen sets. Data on interactions between the plants and their bee pollinators were analysed as quantitative bipartite networks. We found that petal and style size and shape were correlated to stamen dimorphism. Stamen dimorphic species present larger flowers and less variable style shapes than stamen isomorphic species. Furthermore, stamen dimorphism is associated with higher richness of visiting bees, i.e. higher ecological generalization. During the evolutionary history of Melastomataceae, the dependence on pollinators for fruit set has possibly favoured the evolution of larger flowers with dimorphic stamens, which in turn are able to make use of a larger spectrum of pollen-collecting bees, leading to ecological generalization.
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Affiliation(s)
- L B Valadão-Mendes
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Conservação e Manejo de Vida Silvestre, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brasil
- Centro de Síntese Ecológica e Conservação, Departamento de Genética, Ecologia e Evolução, ICB, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brasil
| | - I Rocha
- Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, Brasil
| | - D A L Meireles
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação dos Recursos Naturais, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, Brasil
- Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Ciências Biologicas, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, Brasil
| | - F B Leite
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Vegetal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, Brasil
| | - M Sazima
- Departamento de Biologia Vegetal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, Brasil
| | - P K Maruyama
- Centro de Síntese Ecológica e Conservação, Departamento de Genética, Ecologia e Evolução, ICB, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brasil
| | - V L G Brito
- Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, Brasil
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Vegetal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, Brasil
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