Mate-Searching Behaviour of Common and Rare Wasps and the Implications for Pollen Movement of the Sexually Deceptive Orchids They Pollinate

Menz, Myles H. M.; Phillips, Ryan D.; Dixon, Kingsley W.; Peakall, Rod; Didham, Raphaël K.

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0059111

Cited by 23 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 41 publications

(49 reference statements)

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“…This specialization by pollinators on generalist plant species is a consistent structural characteristic of plant-pollinator networks (Vázquez and Aizen 2004;Bascompte et al 2006;Bascompte and Jordano 2007). At our study site, the two frequently visited plant species were both open-flowered Myrtaceae, supporting findings from previous studies that have predicted the importance of Myrtaceae as a carbohydrate source for thynnines (Menz et al 2013;Brown and Phillips 2014). These plants are also important nectar resources for many other insect and vertebrate species.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

“…Pollen loads are strongly correlated with the extent of animal visitation to flowering plants, and are often used to determine floral resource use and foraging distances (e.g. Greenleaf et al 2007;Beil et al 2008;Jha et al 2013;Menz et al 2013). A potential limitation of this method is floral visitation without the deposition of pollen on the body of the pollinator.…”

Section: Pollen Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Further, there have been no systematic dietary studies, except for Menz et al (2013), which focused on two species in the context of orchid pollination. A recent review spanning all genera of thynnine wasps (Brown and Phillips 2014) revealed that the most frequently visited plant family was the Myrtaceae.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Absence of nectar resource partitioning in a community of parasitoid wasps

et al. 2015

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Parasitoid wasps occur in diverse communities, with the adults of most species sourcing carbohydrates from nectar or honeydew. However, the role of niche partitioning of nectar resources in maintaining diverse communities of parasitoid Hymenoptera is poorly known. To elucidate patterns of nectar resource use and test whether species partition resources, we investigated pollen loads in a community of parasitoid thynnine wasps in the biodiversity hotspot of southwestern Australia. In total, 304 thynnine wasps from 28 species were captured. Eighteen of these species are undescribed, highlighting the high diversity of unrecognized species in southwestern Australia. Pollen loads were detected on 111 individuals representing 19 species. Six pollen types were identified. All species that carried pollen primarily visited two tree species, Agonis flexuosa and Eucalyptus marginata, in the Myrtaceae. The other four pollen types were only recorded from single wasps. There was no evidence of nectar-resource partitioning. This may be due to these Myrtaceae producing abundant, open-faced flowers. Wasp species that were not recorded carrying pollen may utilise other carbohydrate sources, such as homopoteran honeydew. Niche partitioning is predicted to occur during the parasitoid larval phase of the life cycle. This study highlights the importance of nectariferous Myrtaceae in supporting diverse wasp communities. Further, two species of nectarforaging wasps collected here are involved in the pollination of rare orchid species. Hence, conservation and management of habitats that support floriferous Myrtaceae are important for both the maintenance of diverse wasp communities, and the plants they pollinate.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Pollen Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

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Absence of nectar resource partitioning in a community of parasitoid wasps

et al. 2015

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“…The resources required by mycorrhizal fungi would primarily consist of coarse soil organic matter and litter where the inoculum of orchid fungi is most concentrated (Brundrett et al 2003). Individual insect pollinators quickly learn to avoid areas where sexually deceptive flowers occur (Alcock 2000;Menz et al 2013), so pollination is more frequent if plants are widely dispersed. Density-dependent impacts on orchid fitness may be less severe in non-productive years when more plants remain dormant.…”

Section: Drakaea Isolatamentioning

confidence: 99%

Using vital statistics and core-habitat maps to manage critically endangered orchids in the Western Australian wheatbelt

Brundrett¹

2016

Aust. J. Bot.

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Abstract. Vital-statistics data concerning population viability were gathered for four of the rarest orchids in Western Australia using surveys to define population sizes and habitat areas and annual measurements of plant demographics. These orchids were Caladenia melanema, C. graniticola, C. williamsiae and Drakaea isolata from the wheatbelt of Western Australia. This agricultural area has a Mediterranean climate with unreliable rainfall, and is >80% cleared of native vegetation. Surveys with 10-30 volunteers increased population-size estimates by up to 10 times and provided spatial data to define core habitat areas. These areas included most of the individuals of a species, but were only 2-10 ha in size. Within these areas, orchids were often highly aggregated in patches a few metres wide, potentially resulting in a high degree of intraspecific competition. Vital statistics were obtained using 4-m wide and 30-50-m-long transects to measure rates of emergence, flowering, grazing and seed-set for each orchid. Plants emerging at the same position in different years were considered to be the same individual, but most emerged in new positions. Many plants emerged just once in 4 years, and 2-3 years of dormancy was common. Emergence frequencies were used to provide estimates of population sizes that were two or three times larger than suggested by data from a single year. Seed production was typically very low. Grazing by kangaroos and rabbits was most severe for C. melanema, but was greatly reduced by fencing. Severe drought prevented flowering of C. graniticola in the driest year, whereas other species were more resilient. These orchids are likely to persist as long as there are some years where rainfall is sufficient for flowering and seed set followed by a year with adequate rain for seed germination. Populations of all these orchids were stable or increasing, but they are still at high risk of extinction because of the impacts of increasing soil salinity or fire on their habitats. These species are unlikely to spread elsewhere in the highly cleared and fragmented wheatbelt. Intervention by hand-pollination, grazing protection and translocation to new locations is required to mitigate these risks. Results were summarised in vital statistics report cards with thresholds set to inform conservation management for these species. Core habitat maps and vital-statistics report cards should also be valuable new tools for terrestrial-orchid conservation in other biomes.

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“…Affecting spatial distribution of individuals reproducing sexually, clonal growth may strongly interfere with the pattern of pollen dispersal, in this way shaping mating patterns in a population. Increased floral display may affect the pollinators' behavior, which often exhibits localized movements (Scobie and Wilcock 2009;Menz et al 2013). An abundance of flowers in the case of clonal species is very attractive to pollinators, allowing them to optimize their foraging behavior, increasing cross-pollination, although at the cost of possible geitonogamy (VallejoMarín et al 2010).…”

Section: Sgs Across Clonal and Non-clonal Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Clonality as a driver of spatial genetic structure in populations of clonal tree species

Dering

Chybicki

Rączka³

2015

J Plant Res

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Random genetic drift, natural selection and restricted gene dispersal are basic factors of the spatial genetic structure (SGS) in plant populations. Clonal reproduction has a profound effect on population dynamics and genetic structure and thus emerges as a potential factor in contributing to and modelling SGS. In order to assess the impact of clonality on SGS we studied clonal structure and SGS in the population of Populus alba. Six hundred and seventy-two individuals were mapped and genotyped with 16 nuclear microsatellite markers. To answer the more general question regarding the relationship between SGS and clonality we used Sp statistics, which allows for comparisons of the extent of SGS among different studies, and the comparison of published data on SGS in clonal and non-clonal tree species. Sp statistic was extracted for 14 clonal and 27 non-clonal species belonging to 7 and 18 botanical families, respectively. Results of genetic investigations conducted in the population of P. alba showed over-domination of clonal reproduction, which resulted in very low clonal diversity (R = 0.12). Significant SGS was found at both ramet (Sp = 0.095) and genet level (Sp = 0.05) and clonal reproduction was indicated as an important but not sole driving factor of SGS. Within-population structure, probably due to family structure also contributed to high SGS. High mean dominance index (D = 0.82) indicated low intermingling among genets. Literature survey revealed that clonal tree species significantly differ from non-clonal species with respect to SGS, having 2.8-fold higher SGS. This led us to conclude that clonality is a life-history trait that can have deep impact on processes acting in populations of clonal tree species leading to significant SGS.

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Mate-Searching Behaviour of Common and Rare Wasps and the Implications for Pollen Movement of the Sexually Deceptive Orchids They Pollinate

Cited by 23 publications

References 41 publications

Absence of nectar resource partitioning in a community of parasitoid wasps

Absence of nectar resource partitioning in a community of parasitoid wasps

Using vital statistics and core-habitat maps to manage critically endangered orchids in the Western Australian wheatbelt

Clonality as a driver of spatial genetic structure in populations of clonal tree species

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