| Research Articles |
|
|
|
|
| Reproduction of Hedysarum scoparium (Fabaceae) in patched habitat is pollen limited, but not just pollinator limited |
| ChengChen PAN1, LinDe LIU2, HaLin ZHAO1, JiLiang LIU1, YueLi HOU2, Li ZHANG2 |
1 Cold and Arid Regions Environment and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China;
2 School of Life Sciences, Ludong University, Yantai 264039, China |
|
|
|
Abstract Pollen limitation of plant reproduction occurs across Angiosperms, particularly those in patched habitats. We investigated the relationship between pollen limitation and patch variables (patch size, visitation frequency) in the desert plant Hedysarum scoparium (Fabaceae), which is an important xerophyte in the arid and semi-arid regions of Northwest China and can grow well as a pioneer plant in shifting sand dunes. We observed insect visitation to H. scoparium over two flowering seasons and estimated pollen limitation using fruit set and seed production. Our results indicate that fruit set and seed production increased significantly with pollen supplementation compared with open pollination. Hedysarum scoparium was pollinated by over 8 species of bees, with 88.4% of visits made by introduced honeybees (Apis mellifera). Bee visitation varied significantly among the patches of habitats, but not associated with patch size of habitat. In general, pollen limitation occurred more strongly during fruit set than during seed production. The patches that received higher rates of pollinator visits were less pollen limited for fruit set. Pollen limitation for seed production, however, was not associated with pollinator visitation frequency. We conclude that pollen limitation in H. scoparium was caused by more than one reason, not just pollinator visits.
|
|
Received: 06 September 2011
Published: 05 March 2012
|
| Fund: The National Basic Research Program of China (2009CB421303). |
|
Corresponding Authors:
ChengChen PAN
E-mail: panchengchen@163.com
|
|
|
| Aguiar M R, Sala O E. 1999. Patch structure, dynamics and implications for the functioning of arid ecosystems. Tree, 14(7): 273–277.Aguilar R, Ashworth L, Galetto L, et al. 2006. Plant reproductive susceptibility to habitat fragmentation: review and synthesis through a meta-analysis. Ecology Letters, 9(8): 968–980.Aizen M A, Feinsinger P. 1994a. Forest fragmentation, pollination, and plant reproduction in a Chaco dry forest, Argentina. Ecology, 75(2): 330–351.Aizen M A, Feinsinger P. 1994b. Habitat fragmentation, native insect pollinators, and feral honey bees in argentine Chaco Serrano. Ecological Applications, 4(2): 378–392.Aizen M A, Ashworth L, Galetto L. 2002. Reproductive success in fragmented habitats: do compatibility systems and pollination specialization matter? Journal of Vegetation Science, 13(6): 885–892.Aizen M A, Feinsinger P. 2003. Bees not to be? Responses of insect pollinator faunas and flower pollination to habitat fragmentation. In: Bradshaw G A, Marquet P A. Disruptions and Variability: the Dynamics of Climate, Human Disturbance and Ecosystems in the Americas. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 111–129.Ashman T L, Knight T M, Steets J A, et al. 2004. Pollen limitation of plant reproduction: ecological and evolutionary causes and consequences. Ecology, 85(9): 2408–2421.Burd M. 1994. Bateman’s principle and plant reproduction: the role of pollen limitation in fruit and seed set. Botanical Review, 60(1): 83–139.Cosacov A, Nattero J, Cocucci A A. 2008. Variation of pollinator assemblages and pollen limitation in a locally specialized system: the oil-producing Nierembergia linariifolia (Solanaceae). Annals of Botany, 102(5): 723–734.Cunningham S A. 2000. Depressed pollination in habitat fragments causes low fruit set. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 267(1448): 1149–1152.Dogterom M H, Winston M L, Mukai A. 2000. Effect of pollen load size and source (self, outcross) on seed and fruit production in highbush blueberry cv. ‘Bluecrop’ (Vaccinium corymbosum; Ericaceae). American Journal of Botany, 87(11): 1584–1591.Duan Y W, Zhang T F, Liu J Q. 2007. Interannual fluctuations in floral longevity, pollinator visitation and pollination limitation of an alpine plant (Gentiana straminea Maxim., Gentianaceae) at two altitudes in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Plant Systematics and Evolution, 267(1–4): 255–265.Duncan D H, Nicotra A B, Wood J T, et al. 2004. Plant isolation reduces outcross pollen receipt in a partially self-compatible herb. Journal of Ecology, 92: 977–985.Fumero-Cabán J J, Meléndez-Ackerman E J. 2007. Relative pollination effectiveness of floral visitors of Pitcairnia angustifolia (Bromeliaceae). American Journal of Botany, 94(3): 419–424. Ghazoul J. 2005. Pollen and seed dispersal among dispersed plants. Biological Reviews, 80(3): 413–443.Gómez J M, Abdelaziz M, Lorite J, et al. 2010. Changes in pollinator fauna cause spatial variation in pollen limitation. Journal of Ecology, 98(5): 1243–1252.González-Varo J P, Albaladejo R G, Aparicio A. 2009. Mating patterns and spatial distribution of conspecific neighbours in the Mediterranean shrub Myrtus communis (Myrtaceae). Plant Ecology, 203(2): 207–215.Goverde M, Schweizer K, Baur B, et al. 2002. Small-scale habitat fragmentation effects on pollinator behaviour: experimental evidence from the bumblebee Bombus veteranus on calcareous grasslands. Biology Conservation, 104(3): 293–299.Groom M J. 1998. Allee effects limit population viability of an annual plant. The American Naturalist, 151(6): 487–496.Haig D, Westoby M. 1988. On limits to seed production. The American Naturalist, 131(5): 757–759.Hansen D M, Olesen J M, Jones C G. 2002. Trees, birds and bees in Mauritius: exploitative competition between introduced honey bees and endemic nectarivorous birds. Journal of Biogeography, 29(5–6): 721–734.Hanski I. 1998. Metapopulations dynamics. Nature, 396: 41–49.Harder L D, Aizen M A. 2010. Floral adaptation and diversification under pollen limitation. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London: Series B, 365(1539): 529–543.Harris L F, Johnson S D. 2004. The consequences of habitat fragmentation for plant-pollinator mutualisms. International Journal of Tropical Insect Science, 24(1): 29–43.Hobbs R J, Yates C J. 2003. Impacts of ecosystem fragmentation on plant populations: generalising the idiosyncratic. Australian Journal of Botany, 51(5): 471–488.Jennersten O. 1988. Pollination in Dianthus deltoides (Caryophyllaceae): effects of habitat fragmentation on visitation and seed set. Conservation Biology, 2(4): 359–366.Kéry M, Matthies D. 2004. Reduced fecundity in small populations of the rare plant Gentianopsis ciliate (Gentianaceae). Plant Biology, 6(6): 683–688.Knight T M, Steets J A, Vamosi J C, et al. 2005. Pollen limitation of plant reproduction: pattern and process. Annual Review of Ecology Evolution and Systematics, 36: 467–497.Knight T M, Steets J A, Ashman T L. 2006. A quantitative synthesis of pollen supplementation experiments highlights the contribution of resource reallocation to estimates of pollen limitation. American Journal of Botany, 93(2): 271–277.Kotliar N B, Wiens J A. 1990. Multiple scales of patchiness and patch structure: a hierarchical framework for the study of heterogeneity. Oikos, 59(2): 253–260.Larson B M H, Barrett S C H. 2000. A comparative analysis of pollen limitation in flowering plants. Biological Journal of Linnean Society, 69(4): 503–520.Lindenmayer D, Fischer J. 2006. Habitat Fragmentation and Landscape Change: An Ecological and Conservation Synthesis. Washington D.C.: Island Press. Liu Z M, Zhao W Z. 2001. Shifting-sand control in central Tibet. Ambio, 30(6): 376–380.McIntosh M E. 2002. Plant size, breeding system, and limits to reproductive success in two sister species of Ferocactus (Cactaceae). Plant Ecology, 162(2): 273–288.McIntyre N, Hostetler M E. 2001. Effects of urban land use on pollinator (Hymenoptera: Apodidea) communities in a desert metropolis. Journal of Applied and Theoretical Biology, 2(3): 209–218.Morgan M T, Wilson W G, Knight T M. 2005. Plant population dynamics, pollinator foraging, and the selection of self-fertilization. The American Naturalist, 166(2): 169–183.Pan C C, Liu L D, Hou Y L, et al. 2010. Flowering characteristics and breeding system of Hedysarum Scoparium in the middle reaches of Heihe river. Journal of Desert Research, 30: 1099–1103. Pérez-Barrales R, Arroyo J, Armbruster W S. 2007. Differences in pollinator faunas may generate geographic differences in floral morphology and integration in Narcissus papyraceus (Amaryllidaceae). Oikos, 116: 1904–1918.Qi S, Wang T, Feng J M. 2003. Classification of land degradation in the Heihe River Basin, Northwestern China. Ecology and Environment, 12(4): 427–430.Rathcke B J, Jules E S. 1993. Habitat fragmentation and plant–pollinator interactions. Current Science, 65: 273–277.Roubik D W. 1980. Foraging behavior of competing Africanized honeybees and stingless bees. Ecology, 61(4): 836–845.Schleuning M, Templin M, Huamán V, et al. 2011. Effects of inbreeding, outbreeding, and supplemental pollen on the reproduction of a hummingbird-pollinated clonal Amazonian herb. Biotropica, 43(2): 183–191.Simpson B B, Neff J L, Moldenke A R. 1977. Prosopis flowers as a resource. In: Simpson B B. Mesquite: its Biology in Two Desert Scrub Ecosystems. Pennsylvania: Dowden, Hutchinson and Ross, Stroudsburg, 84–107.Steffan-Dewenter I, Tscharntke T. 1999. Effects of habitat isolation on pollinator communities and seed set. Oecologia, 121(3): 432–440.Steffan-Dewenter I, Tscharntke T. 2000. Resource overlap and possible competition between honey bees and wild bees in central Europe. Oecologia, 122(2): 288–296.Steven J C, Rooney T P, Boyle O D, et al. 2003. Density-dependent pollinator visitation and selfincompatibility in upper Great Lakes populations of Trillium grandiflorum. Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society, 130(1): 23–29.Traveset A, Richardson D M. 2006. Biological invasions as disruptors of plant reproductive mutualisms. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 21(4): 208 – 216.Wagenius S, Lyon S P. 2010. Reproduction of Echinacea angustifolia in fragmented prairie is pollen-limited but not pollinator-limited. Ecology, 91(3): 733–742.Wesselingh R A. 2007. Pollen limitation meets resource allocation: towards a comprehensive methodology. New Phytologist, 174(1): 26–37. |
|
Viewed |
|
|
|
Full text
|
|
|
|
|
Abstract
|
|
|
|
|
Cited |
|
|
|
|
| |
Shared |
|
|
|
|
| |
Discussed |
|
|
|
|
