Article
Plant Sciences
J. E. Garcia, A. G. Dyer, M. Burd, M. Shrestha
Summary: The study investigated the visual signal adaptations of flowers to pollinators, finding that the relationship between flower size, color contrast and green contrast varies across different plant communities.
Article
Entomology
Elena V. Gorb, Stanislav N. Gorb
Summary: In this study, the researchers aimed to determine whether the petal surface of cafeteria-type flowers is adapted to a weaker attachment of insect pollinators. They examined the structure of the plant organs and measured the attachment force of insects. The experimental results showed that the attachment of insects on the petal surface of cafeteria-type flowers was significantly weaker, which is attributed to the structure of the surface and the presence of cuticular folds.
Article
Plant Sciences
Klaus Lunau, Daniela Scaccabarozzi, Larissa Willing, Kingsley Dixon
Summary: This study utilized false colour photography to examine floral colour patterns of 55 flower species in diverse natural plant communities in southwest Australia, revealing both expected and unexpected floral colour pattern syndromes, including typical cases of pollen and flower mimicry, as well as unusual white and UV-reflecting flowers in bee-pollinated plants.
Article
Plant Sciences
Monika Moir, Steven D. Johnson, Bruce Anderson
Summary: Sapromyophilous flowers, which are visited by flies seeking carrion or faeces, typically have large sizes, purple or red-brown colors, often speckled patterns, and produce pungent scents. In the case of the South African iris Moraea lurida, although the flowers conform to this syndrome, there is considerable variation in color and pattern. This study found that effective pollination in this species depends on large-bodied flies, with Calliphoridae being the most important pollinators. Successful pollination is achieved when these flies fit between the anthers and petals, acting like a key in a lock. Interestingly, the pollinators showed no preference for different color forms, suggesting a relaxation of selection on color. The floral scent of Moraea lurida is dominated by compounds characteristic of mammalian skin products and gut microbiome, exploiting the flies' perception of compounds associated with mammalian microbiome and fermenting carbohydrates.
BOTANICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY
(2022)
Article
Entomology
M. Sanchez, Y. Velasquez, M. Gonzalez, J. Cuevas
Summary: The hoverfly Eristalinus aeneus displays bimodal daily activity on mango crops, with minimal effects from temperature, light intensity, and relative humidity. The hoverfly visits hermaphrodite flowers more often than male flowers, with a higher number of floral visits for nectar feeding.
BULLETIN OF ENTOMOLOGICAL RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Cristopher Albor, Tia-Lynn Ashman, Amber Stanley, Carlos Martel, Gerardo Arceo-Gomez
Summary: This study uncovers the role of competition and facilitation in community assembly and shows that plant-plant interactions can be structured along multiple traits. Different trait assembly patterns exist within the same co-flowering community, suggesting that a single trait cannot fully explain assembly patterns.
FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Eva Matouskova, Jakub Stenc, Zdenek Janovsky
Summary: Plants have evolved complex flowers with different visual traits to attract pollinators, but pollinators respond differently to individual traits. This study aimed to investigate the effect of individual traits and their interaction on pollinator preferences. The preferences of drone flies for artificial flowers with different color, size, and symmetry were measured in controlled conditions. The results showed that color had the highest selectivity, followed by size, and there was only moderate selectivity for flower symmetry. Additionally, flower color interacted with flower size, with yellow color being preferred, particularly when the flowers were large compared to other forms. These findings suggest that preferences for flower traits are structured, indicating different evolutionary pressures on individual floral traits.
BIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Elizabeth A. Stacy, Melissa A. Johnson
Summary: The study investigated the variation in floral traits of Metrosideros polymorpha in different populations in Hawaii, and found that flower length increased with elevation, while flower width decreased with elevation. Additionally, flower color variation decreased with increasing elevation.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PLANT SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Annemarie Heiduk, Irina Brake, Adam Shuttleworth, Steven D. Johnson
Summary: Kleptomyiophily is a specialized form of floral mimicry where flowers imitate wounded insects to attract kleptoparasitic flies as pollinators. In this study, Ceropegia gerrardii was found to chemically mimic injured honey bees to attract kleptoparasitic flies and reward them with a secretion similar to the haemolymph.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Tarron Lamont, Tesha Toolsee
Summary: The Island Mass Effect (IME) at the sub-Antarctic Prince Edward Islands (PEIs) in the Southern Ocean plays a crucial role in sustaining a diverse ecosystem. The IME shows significant seasonal and spatial variations, influenced by light levels, water temperature, and water column stability. The region northeast of the islands is potentially important for ecosystem functioning.
Article
Geography
Elizabeth M. Rudolph, David W. Hedding, Werner Nel
Summary: This paper presents a comprehensive spatial geodatabase and map of Marion Island's glacial geomorphology using GPS field mapping, high-resolution satellite imagery, and digital surface models. The database includes glacial erosional and depositional features compiled from existing records and recent field observations, which will aid future field investigations and modeling applications regarding the Quaternary landscape evolution and post-glacial ecological succession of Marion Island.
Article
Ecology
Manuel E. Lequerica Tamara, Tanya Latty, Caragh G. Threlfall, Andrew Young, Dieter F. Hochuli
Summary: Urban greenspaces are crucial for insect biodiversity, but the effects of urbanization on hover flies and the seasonal fluctuations of their populations are not well understood. Our study in Sydney, Australia, reveals that hover fly species richness and abundance are influenced by both urbanization and local attributes of urban greenspaces in a seasonally dependent manner. This knowledge is important for effective management of insect-friendly greenspaces.
BASIC AND APPLIED ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Rowan K. Jordaan, Ryan R. Reisinger, W. Chris Oosthuizen, P. J. Nico de Bruyn
Summary: The study investigated the relationship between social organization and prey abundance in killer whales, finding that whales were more social and formed larger groups during periods of high prey abundance. Conversely, during periods of low prey abundance, fewer social interactions and stronger clustering were observed in the whale population. These findings suggest that resource abundance plays a significant role in shaping social structure in animal societies.
Article
Ecology
Michael D. Cramer, David W. Hedding, Michelle Greve, Guy F. Midgley, Brad S. Ripley
Summary: Extreme changes in temperature, rainfall, and wind regimes have been correlated with plant species range expansion upslope on sub-Antarctic islands. However, non-climatic characteristics, such as soil and topographic factors, may limit the capacity for range shifts and survival of vascular plant species.
FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Juan Contardo, Annegret Grimm-Seyfarth, Pedro E. Cattan, Elke Schuttler
Summary: Research shows that free-ranging dogs on a sub-Antarctic island in southern Chile mainly prefer living around human settlements, trails, and roads, and favor open habitats over forest. However, preferences and behavior patterns of these dogs vary significantly among different categories.
BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Alan Dorin, Tim Taylor, Martin Burd, Julian Garcia, Mani Shrestha, Adrian G. Dyer
Summary: Heterospecific pollen transfer by insect pollinators has the potential to drive inter-species competition between flowering plants. The simulation presented in the study demonstrates that this pollen transfer can lead to varying degrees of suppression on plant reproduction, potentially resulting in one species being excluded from shared areas or refugia.
THEORETICAL ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Babu Ram Paudel, Mani Shrestha, Martin Burd, Qing-Jun Li
Editorial Material
Plant Sciences
Jair E. Garcia, Lea Hannah, Mani Shrestha, Martin Burd, Adrian G. Dyer
Summary: Plant-pollinator interactions provide a natural experiment in signal evolution. Flowers have evolved color signals to attract important pollinators like bees, but our understanding of how flies, the second largest group of pollinators, influence flower color evolution is limited. By comparing flowers in different environments and with different pollinators, this study shows that perceptually different colors do evolve in response to different types of insect pollinators, with evidence of both convergence and divergence in floral colors. This research provides insights into how changes in pollinator distributions may impact ecological and agricultural systems globally.
Article
Plant Sciences
J. E. Garcia, A. G. Dyer, M. Burd, M. Shrestha
Summary: The study investigated the visual signal adaptations of flowers to pollinators, finding that the relationship between flower size, color contrast and green contrast varies across different plant communities.
Review
Plant Sciences
Judith Trunschke, Klaus Lunau, Graham H. Pyke, Zong-Xin Ren, Hong Wang
Summary: The evolution of floral traits in animal-pollinated plants involves the interaction between flowers and pollinators. Research shows that pollinator-mediated selection has limited impact on continuous color variation in flowers. The complex interactions between flower colors and pollinator sensory abilities, cognitive responses, and behavior warrant further investigation in understanding the distribution of color phenotypes and fitness.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Sebastian Koethe, Lara Reinartz, Tim A. Heard, Jair E. Garcia, Adrian G. Dyer, Klaus Lunau
Summary: Bees, including the Western honey bee and the Buff-tailed bumble bee, play a vital role in pollination and have influenced the evolution of flower colour signals. This study compared the colour preferences of the Western honey bee and the Australian stingless bee using finely-tuned stimuli designed for bee colour vision. The results showed that both species had a preference for spectra-purer colours, although this preference was stronger in honey bees. Honey bees also demonstrated a capacity for learning high-intensity stimuli, while stingless bees were insensitive to stimulus intensity. These findings suggest that there are common roots in colour perception among pollinating bees, but species-specific differences exist.
JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY A-NEUROETHOLOGY SENSORY NEURAL AND BEHAVIORAL PHYSIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Manuel Wiegel, Klaus Lunau
Summary: Monosymmetry in flowers in the Saxifraga genus varies between and within species, and is influenced by the flowers' response to gravity. Factors such as flower size, colouration, and symmetry differ between horizontally and vertically oriented flowers. The orientation of the septum between the two carpels is mainly horizontal.
PLANT SYSTEMATICS AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Daniela Scaccabarozzi, Klaus Lunau, Lorenzo Guzzetti, Salvatore Cozzolino, Adrian G. Dyer, Nicola Tommasi, Paolo Biella, Andrea Galimberti, Massimo Labra, Ilaria Bruni, Giorgio Pattarini, Mark Brundrett, Monica Gagliano
Summary: The Australian orchid Diuris brumalis attracts bee pollinators by mimicking the UV reflecting patterns of its model, the rewarding pea plant Daviesia decurrens. The visual stimuli of the orchid, which emphasize the floral UV signaling, have a greater impact on pollinators' visitation at an optimal distance from the model. This study reveals the functional role of salient UV flower signaling in visual floral mimicry and its ability to mediate plant pollinia removal at larger spatial scales.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Maria Gabriela Gutierrez Camargo, Montserrat Arista, Klaus Lunau, Pedro Luis Ortiz, Soizig Le Stradic, Nathalia Miranda Walter Bretas Rocha, Leonor Patricia Cerdeira Morellato
Summary: Within a community, co-occurring plant species can both diverge and benefit from floral signal standardisation, depending on the flower colour display and flowering phenology. In highly diverse tropical and temperate vegetation types, the visual similarity of rewarding flowers among co-occurring species was investigated. Flower colour was generally not distinguishable within groups by bees, and the flowering periods overlapped in Mediterranean species but tended to be segregated in Brazilian campo rupestre species. The standardisation of floral colour signal within these two species-rich plant communities is advantageous for most of the species studied, despite different flowering phenologies.
Article
Biology
Binyu Luo, Mei Huang, Wenyin Wang, Jiahuan Niu, Mani Shrestha, Haijun Zeng, Lin Ma, A. Allan Degen, Jingkang Liao, Tao Zhang, Yanfu Bai, Jingxue Zhao, Lauchlan H. Fraser, Zhanhuan Shang
Summary: Warming can negatively affect litter decomposition, but the ant species Formica manchu may benefit from warming and mitigate its negative effects. This study found that the presence of ant nests increased litter decomposition, and even under warming conditions, ant nests with ants accessing the decomposition station were not negatively impacted. Therefore, protecting these ants and their nests is crucial for alpine grassland management.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Bethanne Bruninga-Socolar, Jacob B. Socolar, Sabine Konzmann, Klaus Lunau
Summary: In pollen-limited plant communities, pollinator foraging behavior plays a crucial role in determining the coexistence and competitive exclusion of plant species. However, empirical studies and simulation models suggest that strong specialization in individual foraging paths is required for promoting coexistence, which is rare in diverse plant communities. Although individual-level specialization exists, it is not sufficient to substantially impact coexistence dynamics. Therefore, pollinator-mediated coexistence is likely to be rare in diverse plant communities.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2023)