The influence of floral traits on specialization and modularity of plant–pollinator networks in a biodiversity hotspot in the Peruvian Andes

Abstract Understanding the pollination biology of medicinal plants and their important insect pollinators is necessary for their conservation. The present study explored the complex interactions between pollinator visitation and effect of floral traits on pollinator behaviour on seven medicinal plant species grown in an urban garden in West Bengal, an eastern Indian state. The observations revealed 30 morphospecies of insect flower visitors (Diptera, Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera) that touched floral reproductive parts on the selected plants during visitation. Additionally, it was observed that floral traits (e.g., corolla length and corolla opening diameter) were important predictors of the behaviour of insects when visiting the flowers. Plant–pollinator interactions were analysed using a bipartite network approach which explored the important links between insect and plants in the network revealing the key interactions, and species which are crucial to system maintenance. This piece of work contributes to our ability to understand and maintain a stable medicinal plant–pollinator network which will support efforts to conserve native flora and insects.

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Is there spatial variation in phenotypic selection on floral traits in a generalist plant–pollinator system?

Evolutionary Ecology ◽

10.1007/s10682-019-10002-7 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 33 (5) ◽

pp. 687-700

Author(s):

Alejandra V. González ◽

Catalina González-Browne ◽

Patricia Salinas ◽

Maureen Murúa

Keyword(s):

Spatial Variation ◽

Phenotypic Selection ◽

Floral Traits ◽

Plant Pollinator

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Visibility and attractiveness of Fritillaria (Liliaceae) flowers to potential pollinators

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-90140-7 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Katarzyna Roguz ◽

Laurence Hill ◽

Sebastian Koethe ◽

Klaus Lunau ◽

Agata Roguz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Food Reward ◽

Potential Role ◽

Flower Colour ◽

Floral Traits ◽

Nectar Guides ◽

Flower Colours ◽

Visual Attraction ◽

Floral Characters ◽

Plant Pollinator

AbstractVisual floral characters play an important role in shaping plant-pollinator interactions. The genus Fritillaria L. (Liliaceae), comprising approximately 140 species, is described as displaying a remarkable variety of flower colours and sizes. Despite this variation in visual floral traits of fritillaries, little is known about the potential role of these features in shaping plant-pollinator interactions. Here, we seek to clarify the role of visual attraction in species offering a robust food reward for pollinators early in the spring, which is the case for Fritillaria. We also searched for potential tendencies in the evolution of floral traits crucial for plant-pollinator communication. The generality of species with green and purple flowers may indicate an influence of environmental factors other than pollinators. The flowers of the studied species seem to be visible but not very visually attractive to potential pollinators. The food rewards are hidden within the nodding perianth, and both traits are conserved among fritillaries. Additionally, visual floral traits are not good predictors of nectar properties. When in the flowers, pollinators are navigated by nectar guides in the form of contrasting nectary area colouration. Flower colour does not serve as a phenotypic filter against illegitimate pollinators—red and orange bird-pollinated fritillaries are visible to bees.

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Interactive Effects of Temperature, Water, and Nitrogen Availability on the Growth, Floral Traits, and Pollination of White Mustard, Sinapis alba

10.20944/preprints202012.0449.v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Asma Akter ◽

Jan Klečka

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Nitrogen Availability ◽

Seed Set ◽

Sinapis Alba ◽

Floral Traits ◽

Flower Production ◽

Flower Visitation ◽

The Impact ◽

Plant Pollinator ◽

Temperature Water

Climate change is likely to have a complex effect on the growth of plants, their phenology, plant-pollinator interactions, and reproductive success. Therefore, we tested the impact of three key factors (temperature, water, and nitrogen supply) on traits, pollination, and seed production in Sinapis alba (Brassicaceae). We grew the plants in different combinations of temperature, water, and nitrogen supplementation, measured multiple vegetative and floral traits, and assessed the response of pollinators in the field. We also evaluated the effect of growing conditions on seed set in plants exposed to pollinators and hand-pollinated plants. Our results show that water stress impaired vegetative growth, decreased flower production, reduced visitation by pollinators and seed set, while nitrogen availability played an important role in nectar production. Temperature modulated the effect of water and nitrogen availability on vegetative and floral traits and strongly affected flowering phenology and flower production. We demonstrated that changes in temperature, water, and nitrogen availability induce changes in plant vegetative and floral traits which impact flower visitation and consequently plant reproduction. Climate change, particularly increasing temperature combined with reduced precipitation, thus may impact plant-pollinator interactions with negative consequences for the reproduction of wild plants and insect-pollinated crops.

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Spatiotemporal shifts in the role of floral traits in shaping tropical plant-pollinator interactions

10.1101/2020.10.16.342386 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Yannick Klomberg ◽

Robert Tropek ◽

Jan E.J. Mertens ◽

Ishmeal N. Kobe ◽

Jiří Hodeček ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Environmental Conditions ◽

Elevational Gradient ◽

Floral Traits ◽

Pollination Syndrome ◽

Floral Trait ◽

Mount Cameroon ◽

Tropical Plant ◽

Random Forest Models ◽

Pollination Systems ◽

Plant Pollinator

AbstractThe pollination syndrome hypothesis predicts that plants pollinated by the same pollinator group bear convergent combinations of specific floral traits. Nevertheless, some studies have shown relatively low predictive power for these floral trait combinations. This discrepancy may be caused by changes in the importance of specific floral traits for shaping interactions under different environmental conditions and for different pollinator groups. To test this, we studied pollination systems and floral traits along an elevational gradient on Mount Cameroon during wet and dry seasons. Using Random Forest models, allowing the ranking of traits by significance, we demonstrated that some floral traits are more important than others in shaping interactions and that these traits predict pollinators relatively well. However, the distribution and importance of traits varies under different environmental conditions. Our results imply the need to improve our trait-based understanding of plant-pollinator interactions to better inform the debate surrounding pollination syndrome hypothesis.

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Interactive effects of temperature, water, and nitrogen availability on the growth, floral traits, and pollination of white mustard,

10.1101/2020.12.18.423279 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Asma Akter ◽

Jan Klečka

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Nitrogen Availability ◽

Seed Set ◽

Sinapis Alba ◽

Floral Traits ◽

Flower Production ◽

Flower Visitation ◽

The Impact ◽

Plant Pollinator ◽

Temperature Water

Climate change is likely to have a complex effect on the growth of plants, their phenology, plant-pollinator interactions, and reproductive success. Therefore, we tested the impact of three key factors (temperature, water, and nitrogen supply) on traits, pollination, and seed production in Sinapis alba (Brassicaceae). We grew the plants in different combinations of temperature, water, and nitrogen supplementation, measured multiple vegetative and floral traits, and assessed the response of pollinators in the field. We also evaluated the effect of growing conditions on seed set in plants exposed to pollinators and hand-pollinated plants. Our results show that water stress impaired vegetative growth, decreased flower production, reduced visitation by pollinators and seed set, while nitrogen availability played an important role in nectar production. Temperature modulated the effect of water and nitrogen availability on vegetative and floral traits and strongly affected flowering phenology and flower production. We demonstrated that changes in temperature, water, and nitrogen availability induce changes in plant vegetative and floral traits which impact flower visitation and consequently plant reproduction. Climate change, particularly increasing temperature combined with reduced precipitation, thus may impact plant-pollinator interactions with negative consequences for reproduction of wild plants and yield of insect- pollinated crops.

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Pollination systems and floral traits in cerrado woody species of the Upper Taquari region (central Brazil)

Brazilian Journal of Biology ◽

10.1590/s1519-69842006000300021 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 66 (2a) ◽

pp. 543-552 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

F. Q. Martins ◽

M. A. Batalha

Keyword(s):

Principal Component Analysis ◽

Plant Species ◽

Principal Component ◽

Woody Species ◽

Floral Traits ◽

Central Brazil ◽

Large Dispersion ◽

Functional Features ◽

Pollination Systems ◽

Plant Pollinator

Plant species present flowers with varied morphological and functional features, which may be associated to pollination systems, including species pollinated by wind, beetles, moths, bees, small insects, birds, or bats. We calculated the frequencies of the pollination systems among woody species in five cerrado fragments in central-western Brazil and tested whether the pollination systems were indeed related to floral traits. We sampled 2,280 individuals, belonging to 121 species, ninety-nine of which were described in relation to all floral traits. Most species had diurnal anthesis, pale colors, and open flowers. The most frequent groups were those composed by the species pollinated by bees, small insects, and moths. A Principal Component Analysis of the species and floral traits showed that there was a grouping among species with some pollination systems, such as those pollinated mainly by beetles, moths, birds, and bats, for which inferences based on the floral traits are recommended in cerrado sites. For the species pollinated mainly by bees or small insects, inferences based on the floral traits are not recommended, due to the large dispersion of the species scores and overlapping between these two groups, which probably occurred due to the specificity absence in plant-pollinator relationships.

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Using Matching Traits to Study the Impacts of Land-Use Intensification on Plant–Pollinator Interactions in European Grasslands: A Review

Insects ◽

10.3390/insects12080680 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (8) ◽

pp. 680

Author(s):

Jérémie Goulnik ◽

Sylvain Plantureux ◽

Isabelle Dajoz ◽

Alice Michelot-Antalik

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Flower Colour ◽

Floral Traits ◽

Knowledge Gaps ◽

Land Use Intensification ◽

Pollinator Community ◽

Wide Range ◽

Suitable Habitats ◽

Underlying Mechanisms ◽

Plant Pollinator

Permanent grasslands are suitable habitats for many plant and animal species, among which are pollinating insects that provide a wide range of ecosystem services. A global crisis in pollination ecosystem service has been highlighted in recent decades, partly the result of land-use intensification. At the grassland scale, however, the underlying mechanisms of land-use intensification that affect plant–pollinator interactions and pollination remain understudied. In this review, we first synthesise the literature to provide new insights into the relationships between land-use intensification and pollination by using matching community and interaction traits. We then identify knowledge gaps and summarise how land-use intensification of grassland influences floral traits that may in turn be associated with modifications to pollinator matching traits. Last, we summarise how these modifications may affect pollination function on permanent grasslands. Overall, land-use intensification may lead to a shift in flower colour, a decrease in mean nectar tube depth and a decrease in reward production and pollen quality at the community level. This, in turn, may generate a decrease in pollinator mouthparts length and body size, that may favour pollinators that require a low amount of floral reward. We found no study citing the effect of land-use intensification on volatile organic compounds emitted by flowers despite the importance of these molecules in pollinator community composition. Overall, our review highlighted major knowledge gaps about the effects of land-use intensification on plant–pollinator interactions, and suggests that land-use intensification could favour plants with generalised floral traits that adversely affect pollination.

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Spatiotemporal variation in the role of floral traits in shaping tropical plant‐pollinator interactions

Ecology Letters ◽

10.1111/ele.13958 ◽

2022 ◽

Author(s):

Yannick Klomberg ◽

Robert Tropek ◽

Jan E. J. Mertens ◽

Ishmeal N. Kobe ◽

Jiří Hodeček ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Spatiotemporal Variation ◽

Floral Traits ◽

Tropical Plant ◽

Plant Pollinator

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