Article
Ecology
Stephanie M. Haas-Desmarais, Christopher J. Lortie
Summary: Shrubs play an important role in desert plant and animal communities by providing shelter and resources. They can influence plant-animal interactions, including pollination and compensation for consumer pressure. In this study, the researchers tested the hypothesis that shrubs facilitate the reproduction of other desert plants by affecting pollination and compensating for consumer pressure. They found that plants under shrubs produced more flowers and seeds and were better able to compensate for consumer damage. However, there was a cost to association with shrubs in terms of pollen limitation.
Article
Plant Sciences
Yuan-Mi Wu, Xue-Li Shen, Ling Tong, Feng-Wei Lei, Xiao-Fei Xia, Xian-Yun Mu, Zhi-Xiang Zhang
Summary: This study revealed the reproductive characteristics of L. oblata, a critically endangered species endemic to cliffs in North China, providing insight into its endangerment and suggesting conservation strategies. L. oblata has highly pollinator-dependent self-fertilization as part of a mixed mating system. Floral features such as low-flowering synchrony, asynchronous anthers dehiscence, and high duration of stigma receptivity, improve pollination efficiency in the case of low pollinator service.
Article
Plant Sciences
Ganju Xiang, Yunyi Jiang, Jinmao Lan, Liuying Huang, Lijun Hao, Zhiqian Liu, Jing Xia
Summary: Plant specialization and pollination network structure have important influences on community assembly. Floral traits, especially when phylogenetically conserved, can predict network structure to a certain extent. This study investigated the relationship between floral traits and network structure in central China using a phylogenetic framework. Results showed that floral size and density indirectly influenced plant specialization and network modularity. Additionally, floral shape, symmetry, and color played roles in pollination sharing and network modularity. These findings contribute to understanding the drivers of local network structure and dynamics.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Yannick Klomberg, Robert Tropek, Jan E. J. Mertens, Ishmeal N. Kobe, Jiri Hodecek, Jan Raska, Nestoral T. Fominka, Daniel Souto-Vilaros, Petra Janeckova, Stepan Janecek
Summary: The study found that the importance of specific floral traits varies under different environmental conditions, highlighting the need to improve our understanding of plant-pollinator interactions.
Article
Ecology
Katherine E. E. Eisen, Sotiria Boutsi, John M. M. Halley, Loretta Pace, Hampus Petren, Hanna Thosteman, Magne Friberg
Summary: This study examined variation in honest signals across different populations and mating systems in Arabis alpina. The results suggest that larger flowers generally produce more nectar and corolla area may be correlated with pollen limitation across populations. However, total scent emission is not correlated with nectar production and two specific compounds may act as honest signals in some populations.
FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Arjun Adit, Vineet Kumar Singh, Monika Koul, Rajesh Tandon
Summary: Consumption of pollination reward through felonious means can influence the foraging behavior and reproductive success of pollinators. In the study of Aerides odorata, it was found that nectar thieving and robbing increased the visits and fruit-set of the pollinator, while florivory had a negative impact. The net reproductive fitness of this orchid species is influenced by the breeding system and the overall interacting framework of the foraging guild.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Samantha Maite de los Santos-Gomez, Dulce Maria Figueroa-Castro, Carlos Castaneda-Posadas
Summary: Pollination syndromes have been shown to predict the groups of pollinators for plant species such as bees, birds, and bats. However, in a study involving nine plant species with varying life cycles, it was found that while six species were visited by effective pollinators, only four were effectively pollinated by the predicted primary or secondary pollinators. Dahlia coccinea and Tigridia pavonia were the only species where the predicted pollinator group was both effective and associated with floral traits. The predictability of pollination syndromes was not observed for annual and perennial plant species.
ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Diego Centeno-Alvarado, Jessica Luiza S. Silva, Oswaldo Cruz-Neto, Xavier Arnan, Ariadna Valentina Lopes
Summary: This study investigated the effects of chronic anthropogenic disturbances and climate change on a self-compatible cactus in the Caatinga dry forest in Brazil. The results showed that despite changes in pollen traits, pollination of T. palmadora remained stable or even increased in the most arid and disturbed areas of the park.
REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Neha Mohanbabu, Michiel P. Veldhuis, Dana Jung, Mark E. Ritchie
Summary: Allocating plant defense traits depends on resource supply, herbivory, and other plant functional traits. However, integrating defense with resource acquisitive traits remains challenging.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Agnes S. Dellinger, Rocio Perez-Barrales, Fabian A. Michelangeli, Darin S. Penneys, Diana M. Fernandez-Fernandez, Juerg Schoenenberger
Summary: Evolutionary shifts from bee to vertebrate pollination in tropical mountains may be driven by abiotic environmental conditions that reduce the efficiency of ancestral pollinators. These shifts coincide with high elevations and adaptive floral trait changes, indicating a correlation between mountain climate and pollinator efficiency.
Article
Ecology
Jessica S. Ambriz, Clementina Gonzalez, Eduardo Cuevas
Summary: Research on Fuchsia parviflora suggests that sex ratios may vary between populations, but typically reach a 1:1 ratio at sexual maturity, with no differences in germination and flowering probabilities between genders. Female plants invest more in reproductive biomass in natural populations, yet grow taller post-flowering, possibly due to herbivore defense trade-offs.
JOURNAL OF TROPICAL ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Agronomy
Stacey M. Fairhurst, Lorna J. Cole, Tereza Kocarkova, Catherine Jones-Morris, Andy Evans, Gail Jackson
Summary: This study explores the potential to predict floral resource availability in oilseed rape varieties using routinely collected agronomic trait data. The quality of nectar is positively influenced by factors such as early vigour, winter hardiness, and stem stiffness, while pollen quantity is affected by traits like early maturation and resistance to lodging. Including modeled floral resource data in recommended varietal lists could help growers make informed decisions based on local pollinator populations.
Article
Plant Sciences
I Cortes-Fernandez, M. D. Cerrato, A. Ribas-Serra, L. Gil Vives
Summary: The European sea holly (Eryngium maritimum L.) is an important species in western Mediterranean dunes. This study analyzed the reproductive biology of a population in the western Mediterranean, focusing on differences in morphometric and reproductive traits among inflorescence orders. Results showed that early inflorescence orders had higher size and production while other orders seemed to attract pollinators.
Article
Ecology
Kaitlyn S. Brown, Christina M. Caruso
Summary: Human-mediated environmental change can strengthen selection on traits of interacting species. This study found that reduced pollinator populations increased pollen limitation in Lobelia siphilitica plants, leading to stronger pollinator-mediated selection for traits such as taller inflorescences and more vibrant petals that can attract pollinators.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Entomology
Hortensia Cabrera Reyes, David Draper, Isabel Marques
Summary: The dependence on pollinators is crucial for the understanding of pollination ecology. Inefficient pollinators and unsuitable conditions may lead to reproductive failure. Research shows that while various visitors may interact with orchid flowers, only a few are considered legitimate pollinators.
Article
Plant Sciences
Victor Parra-Tabla, Conchita Alonso, Tia-Lynn Ashman, Robert A. Raguso, Cristopher Albor, Paula Sosenski, Diego Carmona, Gerardo Arceo-Gomez
Summary: The study shows that HP transfer in invaded co-flowering communities is common, with native and alien species playing different roles within the HP transfer networks, regulated by different floral traits. Alien plants play a central role as HP donors and are more tolerant to HP receipt compared to natives, highlighting overlooked mechanisms facilitating alien plant invasion and success within native co-flowering communities.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Carlos M. Herrera
Summary: This article explores the comparative importance of facilitation and competition as drivers of pollinator resource use at the community level. Results suggest that in undisturbed montane habitats, plant species are arranged in a way that is closer to a facilitation-dominated extreme on a competition-facilitation gradient.
Article
Plant Sciences
Carlos M. Herrera, Pilar Bazaga, Ricardo Perez, Conchita Alonso
Summary: This study on Lavandula latifolia (Lamiaceae) shrubs revealed the presence of epigenetic heterogeneity within plants, which was shown to be a result of internal epigenetic diversification occurring steadily during individual development and subsequently propagated by branch divisions. This highlights that epigenetic mosaicism is a continuous process within plants.
Correction
Ecology
Sergio Alvarez-Perez, Kaoru Tsuji, Marion Donald, Ado Van Assche, Rachel L. Vannette, Carlos M. Herrera, Hans Jacquemyn, Tadashi Fukami, Bart Lievens
Summary: A correction to this paper has been published.
Article
Plant Sciences
Clara Vega, Sergio Alvarez-Perez, Rafael G. Albaladejo, Sandy-Lynn Steenhuisen, Marc-Andre Lachance, Steven D. Johnson, Carlos M. Herrera
Summary: Plant-pollinator interactions play a crucial role in shaping nectar microbial communities, with significantly different yeast and bacterial communities found in plants visited by different pollinator guilds. The richness and phylogenetic diversity of yeasts and bacteria vary depending on the type of pollinator, highlighting contrasts between the two microbial groups in nectar communities.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Clara de Vega, Rafael G. Albaladejo, Sergio Alvarez-Perez, Carlos M. Herrera
Summary: Yeast in floral nectar can directly or indirectly influence plant reproductive success. The direct effect of yeast on plant reproduction was not significant, but significant indirect effects were observed for plant species pollinated by bumblebees or hawkmoths, with the direction of effects varying for different fitness components. There was no consistent effect of yeast on maternal fecundity for species with diverse pollinator assemblages.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Alexander Suarez-Marino, Gerardo Arceo-Gomez, Cristopher Albor, Victor Parra-Tabla
Summary: Co-flowering communities with high plant generalization and pollinator sharing are influenced by flowering phenology and floral similarity, which play important roles in shaping plant-pollinator network structure. Flowering overlap has a positive effect on pollinator sharing and plant generalization, and also influences network nestedness and modularity. The interaction between floral similarity and flowering overlap affects pollinator sharing and network nestedness.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Carlos M. Herrera, Monica Medrano, Pilar Bazaga, Conchita Alonso
Summary: This study reveals the presence of intraindividual epigenetic mosaicism in plants, and the predictable relationship between epigenetic and phenotypic variations in different modules of the same plant. The phenotypes of offspring were also linked to the epigenotype of the maternal module.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Jose R. Morales-Poole, Clara de Vega, Kaoru Tsuji, Hans Jacquemyn, Robert R. Junker, Carlos M. Herrera, Chris Michiels, Bart Lievens, Sergio Alvarez-Perez
Summary: The growth performance of Acinetobacter spp. and Rosenbergiella spp. in floral nectar is largely influenced by the nectar chemistry and bacterial phylogeny.
Article
Plant Sciences
Alexander Suarez-Marino, Gerardo Arceo-Gomez, Cristopher Albor, Victor Parra-Tabla
Summary: Flowering phenology is an important factor influencing the structure and dynamics of plant-pollinator networks. However, many studies fail to consider its effects. This study examines the temporal dynamics of plant-pollinator networks in two coastal communities by analyzing co-flowering networks and the similarity in floral traits and pollinator sharing. The results show that floral trait similarity and pollinator sharing are related to changes in network structure, but these changes vary among communities. The prevalence of specialized interactions throughout the flowering season suggests the importance of explicitly considering flowering phenology in understanding temporal changes in plant-pollinator networks.
Article
Ecology
Carlos M. Herrera, Alejandro Nunez, Luis O. Aguado, Conchita Alonso
Summary: Understanding the factors that drive community-wide assembly of plant-pollinator systems along environmental gradients has significant implications. This study shows that the seasonality in bee pollinator composition in Mediterranean montane habitats is due to the thermal biology of mining bees (Andrena).
ECOLOGICAL MONOGRAPHS
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Carlos M. M. Herrera, Alejandro Nunez, Javier Valverde, Conchita Alonso
Summary: This paper assesses the shrinking effect of body size in a community of solitary bees in a well-preserved habitat during climatic warming. The results show a significant decline in the average body mass of the solitary bees, with larger species shrinking at a faster rate than smaller species. The shrinking effect may lead to significant alterations in the pollination and mating systems of bee-pollinated plants.
Article
Plant Sciences
Brian Suarez, Juan Tun-Garrido, Paula Sosenski, Victor Parra-Tabla
Summary: This study comprehensively examined the distyly system in the tropical shrub Waltheria rotundifolia and found that it exhibited asymmetry in pollen deposition and a heteromorphic incompatibility system, indicating a low efficiency of pollen transfer by the main floral visitor, Apis mellifera.
PLANT SPECIES BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Victor Parra-Tabla, Juan Tun-Garrido, Jose Garcia-Franco, Maria Luisa Martinez
Summary: The invasive plant Cassytha filiformis extensively invades the coastal dunes of the Yucatan Peninsula, significantly reducing the sexual reproduction of its host plants. It parasitizes three common shrub species and has higher reproductive success when parasitizing Suriana maritima.
BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Victor Parra-Tabla, Conchita Alonso
Summary: The endemic plant species Cienfuegosia yucatanensis in the north coast of the Yucatan peninsula, Mexico, is self-compatible and has efficient autonomous pollination mechanisms, which ensure reproductive assurance without early inbreeding depression effects.
BOTANICAL SCIENCES
(2021)