Pollinator‐mediated selection on floral display, spur length and flowering phenology in the deceptive orchid Dactylorhiza lapponica
Open Access
- 20 May 2010
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in New Phytologist
- Vol. 188 (2), 385-392
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2010.03296.x
Abstract
• Nonrewarding animal-pollinated plants commonly experience severe pollen limitation, which should result in strong selection on traits affecting the success of pollination. However, the importance of pollinators as selective agents on floral traits in deceptive species has not been quantified experimentally. • Here, we quantified pollinator-mediated selection (Δβpoll) on floral morphology and start of flowering in the deceptive orchid Dactylorhiza lapponica by subtracting estimates of selection gradients for plants receiving supplemental hand-pollination from estimates obtained for open-pollinated control plants. • There was directional selection for taller plants with more flowers and longer spurs, but no statistically significant selection on corolla size or flowering start. Pollinator-mediated selection accounted for all observed selection on spur length (Δβpoll = 0.32), 76% of the selection on plant height (Δβpoll = 0.19) and 42% of the selection on number of flowers (Δβpoll = 0.30). Sixteen per cent of developing fruits were consumed by insect herbivores, but fruit herbivory had only minor effects on the strength of pollinator-mediated selection. • Our results demonstrate that pollinators mediate selection on floral traits likely to affect both pollinator attraction and pollination efficiency, and are consistent with the hypothesis that deceptive species experience strong selection for increased display and mechanical fit between flower and pollinator.Keywords
This publication has 50 references indexed in Scilit:
- Long-term influence of mowing on population dynamics in the rare orchid Dactylorhiza lapponica: The importance of recruitment and seed productionBiological Conservation, 2010
- Reproductive success of non-rewarding Cypripedium japonicum benefits from low spatial dispersion pattern and asynchronous floweringAnnals of Botany, 2009
- Time after time: flowering phenology and biotic interactionsTrends in Ecology & Evolution, 2007
- Rapid evolution of flowering time by an annual plant in response to a climate fluctuationProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2007
- Effects of floral display size and plant density on pollinator visitation rate in a natural population of Digitalis purpureaFunctional Ecology, 2005
- Variation in sexual reproduction in orchids and its evolutionary consequences: a spasmodic journey to diversificationBiological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2004
- The influence of Mimulus ringens floral display size on pollinator visitation patternsFunctional Ecology, 2004
- Herbivory Reduces the Strength of Pollinator‐Mediated Selection in the Mediterranean Herb Erysimum mediohispanicum: Consequences for Plant SpecializationThe American Naturalist, 2003
- Density-dependent and frequency-dependent selection by bumblebees Bombus terrestris (L.) (Hymenoptera: Apidae)Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 1997
- Added-Variable Plots and Curvature in Linear RegressionTechnometrics, 1996