scholarly journals Wind drives temporal variation in pollinator visitation in a fragmented tropical forest

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
James D. Crall ◽  
Julia Brokaw ◽  
Susan F. Gagliardi ◽  
Chase D. Mendenhall ◽  
Naomi E. Pierce ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Forest ◽  
Critical Factor ◽  
Pollinator Visitation ◽  
Neotropical Forests ◽  
Orchid Bees ◽  
Visitation Rates ◽  
Pollinating Insects ◽  
Floral Visitation ◽  
Tropical Forest Ecosystem

AbstractWind is a critical factor in the ecology of pollinating insects such as bees. However, the role of wind in determining patterns of bee abundance and floral visitation rates across space and time is not well understood. Orchid bees are an important and diverse group of neotropical pollinators that harvest pollen, nectar and resin from plants. In addition, male orchid bees collect volatile scents that they store in special chambers in their hind legs, and for which the wind-based dispersal of odors may play a particularly crucial role. Here we take advantage of this specialized scent foraging behavior to study the effects of wind on orchid bee visitation at scent sources in a fragmented tropical forest ecosystem. We find that temporal changes in wind speed and turbulence are correlated with visitation to scent stations within sites, while local landscape structure is a strong determinant of spatial variation in visitation across nearby sites. These results suggest that the increased dispersal of attractive scents provided by wind and turbulence outweighs any biomechanical or energetic costs that might deter bees from foraging in these conditions. Overall, our results highlight the significance of wind in the ecology of these important pollinators in neotropical forests.

scholarly journals Wind drives temporal variation in pollinator visitation in a fragmented tropical forest

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 20200103
Author(s):  
James D. Crall ◽  
Julia Brokaw ◽  
Susan F. Gagliardi ◽  
Chase D. Mendenhall ◽  
Naomi E. Pierce ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Forest ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Critical Factor ◽  
Pollinator Visitation ◽  
Neotropical Forests ◽  
Orchid Bees ◽  
Orchid Bee ◽  
Pollinating Insects ◽  
Tropical Forest Ecosystem

Wind is a critical factor in the ecology of pollinating insects such as bees. However, the role of wind in determining patterns of bee abundance and floral visitation rates across space and time is not well understood. Orchid bees are an important and diverse group of neotropical pollinators that harvest pollen, nectar and resin from plants. In addition, male orchid bees collect volatile scents that they store in special chambers in their hind legs, and for which the wind-based dispersal of odours may play a particularly crucial role. Here, we take advantage of this specialized scent foraging behaviour to study the effects of wind on orchid bee visitation at scent sources in a fragmented tropical forest ecosystem. Consistent with previous work, forest cover increased orchid bee visitation. In addition, we find that temporal changes in wind speed and turbulence increase visitation to scent stations within sites. These results suggest that the increased dispersal of attractive scents provided by wind and turbulence outweighs any biomechanical or energetic costs that might deter bees from foraging in these conditions. Overall, our results highlight the significance of wind in the ecology of these important pollinators in neotropical forests.

scholarly journals Inbreeding in a dioecious plant has sex- and population origin-specific effects on its interactions with pollinators

eLife ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karin Schrieber ◽  
Sarah Catherine Paul ◽  
Levke Valena Höche ◽  
Andrea Cecilia Salas ◽  
Rabi Didszun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Floral Scent ◽  
Silene Latifolia ◽  
Dioecious Plant ◽  
Plant Populations ◽  
Pollinator Visitation ◽  
Specific Effects ◽  
Visitation Rates ◽  
Flower Traits ◽  
Population Origin ◽  
Pollinating Insects

We study the effects of inbreeding in a dioecious plant on its interaction with pollinating insects and test whether the magnitude of such effects is shaped by plant individual sex and the evolutionary histories of plant populations. We recorded spatial, scent, colour and rewarding flower traits as well as pollinator visitation rates in experimentally inbred and outbred, male and female Silene latifolia plants from European and North American populations differing in their evolutionary histories. We found that inbreeding specifically impairs spatial flower traits and floral scent. Our results support that sex-specific selection and gene expression may have partially magnified these inbreeding costs for females, and that divergent evolutionary histories altered the genetic architecture underlying inbreeding effects across population origins. Moreover, the results indicate that inbreeding effects on floral scent may have a huge potential to disrupt interactions among plants and nocturnal moth pollinators, which are mediated by elaborate chemical communication.

Asymmetrical legitimate pollination in distylous Palicourea demissa (Rubiaceae): the role of nectar production and pollinator visitation

2011 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 393-404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamleth Valois-Cuesta ◽  
Pascual J. Soriano ◽  
Juan Francisco Ornelas
Keyword(s):  
Cloud Forest ◽  
Pollen Deposition ◽  
Nectar Production ◽  
Pollinator Visitation ◽  
Visitation Rate ◽  
Floral Visitor ◽  
Floral Visitors ◽  
Floral Visitation ◽  
Nectar Availability

Abstract:We investigated morph differences in attributes that contribute to rewarding floral visitors of the distylous shrub Palicourea demissa at La Mucuy cloud forest in Venezuela. In both morphs, we measured nectar production from flowers subjected to repeated removals at 2-h intervals (10 plants per morph) and flowers that accumulated nectar for 24 h (10 plants per morph). In both cases, floral visitors were excluded. In addition, we quantified nectar availability (30 plants per morph), floral visitation (10–12 plants per morph) and legitimate pollination (30 plants per morph) throughout the day. We explored morph differences in the variables mentioned above using analyses of variance, and the effects of nectar variation on floral visitation and legitimate pollination using regression models. We observed 1205 floral visits, grouped into six hummingbird (94.7%) and three insect species (5.3%), across observations (264 h). Coeligena torquata was the most frequent floral visitor (34%) in both morphs (1.4–1.7 visits per plant h−1). Nectar production and availability, and visitation rate were similar between morphs. Visitation rate and legitimate pollen deposition increased with the nectar production in both morphs, but levels of legitimate pollination were higher on short-styled flowers than long-styled flowers. These results show that short-styled and long-styled flowers reward floral visitors equally, but frequency and foraging behaviour of long-billed pollinators can promote asymmetrical legitimate pollination.

Managing Landscape Irrigation to Avoid Soil and Nutrient Losses

EDIS ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
George Hochmuth ◽  
Laurie Trenholm ◽  
Don Rainey ◽  
Esen Momol ◽  
Claire Lewis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Environment ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Root Zone ◽  
Irrigation Management ◽  
Critical Factor ◽  
Nutrient Losses ◽  
County Agents ◽  
The Right ◽  
Soil And Water

Proper irrigation management is critical to conserve and protect water resources and to properly manage nutrients in the home landscape. How lawns and landscapes are irrigated directly impacts the natural environment, so landscape maintenance professionals and homeowners must adopt environmentally-friendly approaches to irrigation management. After selecting the right plant for the right place, water is the next critical factor to establish and maintain a healthy lawn and landscape. Fertilization is another important component of lawn and landscape maintenance, and irrigation must be applied correctly, especially following fertilization, to minimize potential nutrient losses. This publication supplements other UF/IFAS Extension publications that also include information on the role of soil and the root zone in irrigation management. This publication is designed to help UF/IFAS Extension county agents prepare materials to directly address nutrient losses from lawns and landscapes caused by inadequate irrigation management practices. This 6-page fact sheet was written by George Hochmuth, Laurie Trenholm, Don Rainey, Esen Momol, Claire Lewis, and Brian Niemann, and published by the UF Department of Soil and Water Science, October 2013. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ss586

scholarly journals The Role of Electric Pressure/Stress Suppressing Pinhole Defect on Coalescence Dynamics of Electrified Droplet

Coatings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 503
Author(s):  
Jaehyun Lee ◽  
Ehsan Esmaili ◽  
Giho Kang ◽  
Baekhoon Seong ◽  
Hosung Kang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solid Phase ◽  
Critical Factor ◽  
Air Pressure ◽  
Conical Shape ◽  
Electric Stress ◽  
Bottom Interface ◽  
Electric Pressure ◽  
Pressure Stress ◽  
Air Film

The dimple occurs by sudden pressure inversion at the droplet’s bottom interface when a droplet collides with the same liquid-phase or different solid-phase. The air film entrapped inside the dimple is a critical factor affecting the sequential dynamics after coalescence and causing defects like the pinhole. Meanwhile, in the coalescence dynamics of an electrified droplet, the droplet’s bottom interfaces change to a conical shape, and droplet contact the substrate directly without dimple formation. In this work, the mechanism for the dimple’s suppression (interfacial change to conical shape) was studied investigating the effect of electric pressure. The electric stress acting on a droplet interface shows the nonlinear electric pressure adding to the uniform droplet pressure. This electric stress locally deforms the droplet’s bottom interface to a conical shape and consequentially enables it to overcome the air pressure beneath the droplet. The electric pressure, calculated from numerical tracking for interface and electrostatic simulation, was at least 108 times bigger than the air pressure at the center of the coalescence. This work helps toward understanding the effect of electric stress on droplet coalescence and in the optimization of conditions in solution-based techniques like printing and coating.

scholarly journals Insects in the City: Does Remnant Native Habitat Influence Insect Order Distributions?

Diversity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 148
Author(s):  
Mani Shrestha ◽  
Jair E. Garcia ◽  
Freya Thomas ◽  
Scarlett R. Howard ◽  
Justin H. J. Chua ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
Ecological Value ◽  
Native Habitat ◽  
Insect Order ◽  
Insect Pollinator ◽  
Pollinating Insects ◽  
Study Sites ◽  
Taxonomic Groups

There is increasing interest in developing urban design principles that incorporate good ecological management. Research on understanding the distribution and role of beneficial pollinating insects, in particular, is changing our view of the ecological value of cities. With the rapid expansion of the built environment comes a need to understand how insects may be affected in extensive urban areas. We therefore investigated insect pollinator capture rates in a rapidly growing and densely urbanized city (Melbourne, Australia). We identified a remnant native habitat contained within the expansive urban boundary, and established study sites at two nearby populated urban areas. We employed standard pan trap sampling techniques to passively sample insect orders in the different environments. Our results show that, even though the types of taxonomic groups of insects captured are comparable between locations, important pollinators like bees and hoverflies were more frequently captured in the remnant native habitat. By contrast, beetles (Coleoptera) and butterflies/moths (Lepidoptera) were more frequently observed in the urban residential regions. Our results suggest that the maintenance of native habitat zones within cities is likely to be valuable for the conservation of bees and the ecosystem services they provide.

scholarly journals The role of spin in the degradation of organic photovoltaics

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivan Ramirez ◽  
Alberto Privitera ◽  
Safakath Karuthedath ◽  
Anna Jungbluth ◽  
Johannes Benduhn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Transient Absorption ◽  
Bulk Heterojunction ◽  
Critical Factor ◽  
Model Systems ◽  
Transient Absorption Spectroscopy ◽  
Triplet States ◽  
Paramagnetic Resonance ◽  
Time Resolved ◽  
A Charge

AbstractStability is now a critical factor in the commercialization of organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices. Both extrinsic stability to oxygen and water and intrinsic stability to light and heat in inert conditions must be achieved. Triplet states are known to be problematic in both cases, leading to singlet oxygen production or fullerene dimerization. The latter is thought to proceed from unquenched singlet excitons that have undergone intersystem crossing (ISC). Instead, we show that in bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells the photo-degradation of C60 via photo-oligomerization occurs primarily via back-hole transfer (BHT) from a charge-transfer state to a C60 excited triplet state. We demonstrate this to be the principal pathway from a combination of steady-state optoelectronic measurements, time-resolved electron paramagnetic resonance, and temperature-dependent transient absorption spectroscopy on model systems. BHT is a much more serious concern than ISC because it cannot be mitigated by improved exciton quenching, obtained for example by a finer BHJ morphology. As BHT is not specific to fullerenes, our results suggest that the role of electron and hole back transfer in the degradation of BHJs should also be carefully considered when designing stable OPV devices.

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