Facilitated fecundity in sand flax: Pollination in an endangered herb of pine rocklands

Harris, Brittany; Koptur, Suzanne

doi:10.1016/j.flora.2022.152041

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…Similar differences have been found in other Mediterranean species in the Iberian Peninsula (Herrera, 1988;Gómez et al, 2007Gómez et al, , 2014. The diversity of visitors agrees with reports on other Linum species (Kearns, 1992;Simbaña and Tye, 2009;Seçmen et al, 2010;Harris and Koptur, 2022;Foroozani et al, 2023), although L. pubescens was visited almost entirely by Usia flies (Johnson and Dafni, 1998;Lebel et al, 2018). In our study, comparing floral visitors between Linum species from coflowering localities provided useful information about pollinator sharing and the potential for pollen transfer between species.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Incomplete partitioning of pollinators byLinum suffruticosumand its coflowering congeners

Pérez‐Barrales

Armbruster

2023

American J of Botany

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Premise: Linum suffruticosum shows variations in pollinator fit, pollen pickup, and local pollinators that predict pollen deposition rates. The species often coflowers with other Linum species using the same pollinators. We investigated whether L. suffruticosum trait variation could be explained by local patterns of pollinator sharing and associated evolution to reduce interspecific pollen transfer. Methods: Pollinator observations were made in different localities (single species, coflowering with other congeners). Floral traits were measured to detect differences across populations and from coflowering species. Reproductive costs were quantified using interspecific hand pollinations and measures of pollen-tube formation, combined with observations of pollen arrival on stigmas and pollen-tube formation after natural pollination in allopatric and sympatric localities. Results: The size and identity of the most important pollinator of L. suffruticosum and whether there was pollinator sharing with coflowering species appeared to explain floral trait variation related to pollinator fit. The morphological overlap of the flowers of L. suffruticosum with those of coflowering species varied, depending on coflowering species identity. A post-pollination incompatibility system maintains reproductive isolation, but conspecific pollen-tube formation was lower after heterospecific pollination. Under natural pollination at sites of coflowering with congeners, conspecific pollen-tube formation was lower than at single-species localities. Conclusions: Trait variation in L. suffruticosum appears to respond to the most important local pollinator. Locally, incomplete pollinator partitioning might cause interspecific pollination, imposing reproductive costs. These reproductive costs may generate selection on floral traits for reduced morphological overlap with coflowering congeners, leading to the evolution of pollination ecotypes.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Incomplete partitioning of pollinators byLinum suffruticosumand its coflowering congeners

Pérez‐Barrales

Armbruster

2023

American J of Botany

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“…Flowering plants have a variety of mechanisms to prevent or reduce self-pollination, such as heteromorphy [26], dicliny, and dioecy, as well as self-incompatibility systems [27]. Many species with perfect flowers receive self-pollen either via cleistogamy, automatic selfing, or recurring visits from certain animals; they may also have floral mechanisms such as delayed self-pollination as the corolla falls off [28] or the flower shrivels [29], providing fertilization in self-compatible species. Echites umbellatus flowers that were unmanipulated (not hand pollinated) set no fruit, indicating that this species relies on pollinators to reproduce.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-Incompatibility in Devil’s Potato (Echites umbellatus Jacq., Apocynaceae) May Explain Why Few Flowers Set Fruit

Koptur,

Primoli,

Valdes

et al. 2024

Biology

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Pollinators are needed for the reproduction of Echites umbellatus, and only sphingid moths have mouthparts long enough to reach the nectar at the bottom of the species’ long, twisted floral tube. Though plants produce many flowers over a period of several months, one observes very few fruits in nature. We asked: (1) Are plants self-compatible, or do they need pollen from another individual to set fruit and seed? (2) Are cross-pollinations between unrelated individuals more successful than crosses with relatives? (3) How does the relatedness of pollen and ovule parent plants affect fruit set, seed number, and seed quality? We investigated the breeding system of E. umbellatus by collecting fruits from seven sites, growing plants and performing hand pollinations over a period of several years, collecting and measuring fruits and counting seeds. Echites umbellatus is self-incompatible, though some individuals produce fruit by self-pollination. Cross-pollinations between unrelated individuals set the most fruit (59%), and those that were self-pollinated set the least (9%). Fruit set from cross-pollinations between related individuals was intermediate (32%). Although the number of seeds per fruit did not differ significantly among pollination treatments, fruits from self-pollinations had substantially fewer viable seeds than outcrossed fruits, with fruits from sibling crosses being intermediate. There were higher levels of self-compatibility in the fragment populations compared with plants from intact habitats. Self-incompatibility may explain why fruit set is low in this plant species; future investigation into the breakdown of self-incompatibility in smaller populations is warranted.

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“…Although G. scabra flowers have traits traditionally associated with attracting nocturnal moths, they open in the evening and remain open into the morning, luring in a much wider array of floral visitors. Despite recent work on the diversity of flower-visiting arthropods in the Everglades [ 88 , 89 , 90 ] and pollination of plants in the pine rockland habitat [ 91 , 92 , 93 , 94 , 95 , 96 ], little is known about the entire array of flower visitors to any particular plant species. The maintenance of healthy pine rockland habitat requires periodic fires to prevent succession to hardwood hammock forest [ 84 ], and in the open pine rockland understory G. scabra grow relatively free of competition from other hardwoods, investing much energy into flowering [ 6 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

More than Moths: Flower Visitors of a Night-Blooming Plant in South Florida Pine Rocklands, USA

Pimienta

Koptur

2022

Plants

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Plants whose flowers open at night but remain open during the day also attract diurnal flower visitors, potentially boosting their pollination rates and providing resources that can support diverse arthropod communities. The rough-leaf velvetseed, Guettarda scabra (Rubiaceae), is an evergreen shrub that thrives only in the imperiled pine rockland habitat in south Florida. Its white, tubular, and fragrant flowers open during late afternoon, exhibiting traits strongly associated with the attraction of nocturnal hawkmoths (Sphingidae). Flowers of G. scabra remain open until the following morning, becoming available to a wider array of visitors, bringing into question the expectation that sphingophilous flowers are visited mainly by hawkmoths. To evaluate whether the flowers of G. scabra are mainly visited by nocturnal hawkmoths and understand the role of this plant in the pine rockland habitat, we characterized the arthropod fauna associated with its flowers during the morning, evening, and at night. We found that most flower visitors were diurnal insects of the orders Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera, although we observed other arthropod groups too. Visitation at night was dominated by two species of hawkmoths. Nectar was the main resource used by the arthropod community during this study. Legitimate visitation and nectar-robbing were the behaviors most frequently observed among the flower visitors. Our results suggest that flowers of the night-blooming G. scabra constitute an important food source for both diurnal and nocturnal arthropod fauna in the fire-dependent pine rocklands of southern Florida. Our study provides novel data to support efforts to conserve and protect pine rocklands and the plants and animals that inhabit them.

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Facilitated fecundity in sand flax: Pollination in an endangered herb of pine rocklands

Cited by 3 publications

References 45 publications

Incomplete partitioning of pollinators byLinum suffruticosumand its coflowering congeners

Incomplete partitioning of pollinators byLinum suffruticosumand its coflowering congeners

Self-Incompatibility in Devil’s Potato (Echites umbellatus Jacq., Apocynaceae) May Explain Why Few Flowers Set Fruit

More than Moths: Flower Visitors of a Night-Blooming Plant in South Florida Pine Rocklands, USA

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