Pollination generalization and reproductive assurance by selfing in a tropical montane ecosystem
- 9 October 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in The Science of Nature
- Vol. 108 (6), 1-21
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-021-01764-8
Abstract
Pollination and reproduction are important processes for understanding plant community dynamics. Information regarding pollination and reproduction is urgent for threatened ecosystems, such as tropical montane ecosystems. In tropical mountains, pollination patterns are expected to conform to the reproductive assurance theory (due to low pollinator activity) and old, climatically buffered and infertile landscapes (OCBIL) theory (due to restricted plant range size). For 82 plant species of the Itatiaia National Park (including endemic and endangered species), we evaluated at least one of the following features: pollinator identity, flower color and size, flowering phenology, and pollinator dependence. Most plant species (ca. 60%) were pollinated by two or more functional groups of pollinators (generalized pollination), with high importance of flies as pollinators. There was low pollinator activity overall (less than one visit per flower per hour). Notably, the invasive honeybee Apis mellifera L. performed half of the visits to this entire plant community, suggesting an impact on the native pollinator fauna and consequently on the native flora. Most endemic plants were generalized with white and small flowers, while endangered species were pollination-specialized with colorful and large flowers. Thus, endangered species are susceptible to changes in pollinator fauna. Flowering seasonality reflected the importance of climatic constraints in this environment. One-third of the plant species were autogamous. Our data suggest that pollinator scarcity may have promoted reproductive assurance strategies such as generalization and pollinator independence. Our community-level study highlighted consistent pollination patterns for tropical mountains and emphasized threats for specialized endangered species.Keywords
This publication has 69 references indexed in Scilit:
- Impactos potenciais das alterações no Código Florestal sobre a vegetação de campos rupestres e campos de altitudeBiota Neotropica, 2010
- Applications of Circular Statistics in Plant Phenology: a Case Studies ApproachPublished by Springer Science and Business Media LLC ,2009
- OCBIL theory: towards an integrated understanding of the evolution, ecology and conservation of biodiversity on old, climatically buffered, infertile landscapesPlant and Soil, 2009
- Brazilian Páramos IV. Phytogeography of the campos de altitudeJournal of Biogeography, 2007
- Flower Color, Hummingbird Pollination, and Habitat Irradiance in Four Neotropical Forests1Biotropica, 2003
- Hummingbird‐Pollinated Floras at Three Atlantic Forest Sites1Biotropica, 2000
- Brazilian Páramos II. Macro‐ and mesoclimate of the campos de altitude and affinities with high mountain climates of the tropical Andes and Costa RicaJournal of Biogeography, 1999
- Brazilian Páramos I. An introduction to the physical environment and vegetation of the campos de altitudeJournal of Biogeography, 1999
- ENDANGERED MUTUALISMS: The Conservation of Plant-Pollinator InteractionsAnnual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 1998
- Pollination in alpine Norway: flowering phenology, insect visitors, and visitation rates in two plant communitiesCanadian Journal of Botany, 1993