Reproductive Ecology of Rhynchanthus beesianus W. W. Smith (Zingiberaceae) in South Yunnan, China: A Ginger with Bird Pollination Syndrome

This study establishes an altiudinal gradient, spanning from the highland Andes (2400 m) to lowland Amazon, as a productive region for the study of bird pollination in Southeastern Peru. The 'Manú Gradient' has a rich history of ornithological research, the published data and resources from which lay the groundwork for analyses of plant-bird interactions. In this preliminary expedition we documented 44 plants exhibting aspects of the bird pollination syndrome, and made field observations of hummingbird visits at three sites spanning the Manú Gradient: 2800 m (Wayqecha), 1400 m (San Pedro), and 400 m (Pantiacolla). Some of the documented plant taxa are underrepresented in the bird pollination literature and could be promising avenues for future analyses of their pollination biology. The Manú Gradient is currently the focus of a concerted, international effort to describe and study the birds in the region; we propose that this region of Southeastern Peru is a productive and perhaps underestimated system to gain insight into the ecology and evolution of bird pollination.Observations were made on 11, 19, and 14 putatively bird pollinated plant species found at the high-, mid- and low-elevation sites along the gradient, respectively. Hummingbirds visited 18 of these plant species, with some plant species being visited by multiple hummingbird species or the same hummingbird species on differing occasions. Morphometric data is presented for putatively bird-pollinated plants, along with bill measurements from hummingbirds captured at each of three sites. Voucher specimens from this study are deposited in the herbaria of the Universidad Nacional de Agraria de La Molina (MOL), Peru and the University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada. The specimens collected represent a ‘snapshot’ of the diversity of bird-pollinated flora as observed over 10 day sampling windows (per site) during the breeding season for hummingbirds of Manú .

Download Full-text

Reproductive ecology of buzz-pollinated <i>Ouratea spectabilis</i> trees (Ochnaceae) in Brazilian Cerrados

Web Ecology ◽

10.5194/we-14-79-2014 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

pp. 79-84 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

D. Montesinos ◽

P. Oliveira

Keyword(s):

Pollen Tube ◽

Pollen Tube Growth ◽

Pollen Viability ◽

Reproductive Ecology ◽

Fruit Production ◽

Tube Growth ◽

Evolutionary Strategy ◽

Interspecific Crosses ◽

Pollination Syndrome ◽

Self Pollination

Abstract. Ouratea spectabilis is a ubiquitous tree species in the Brazilian savannas, or Cerrados, where it plays an important ecological role. We studied its anthesis phenology, pollination biology, pollen viability, and pollen tube growth, and executed a set of intra- and interspecific experimental crosses to determine its mechanisms of incompatibility and reproductive ecology. The species presents a specialized buzz pollination syndrome and is served by a small array of specialized pollinator species. It is a mostly self-incompatible species, and although self-pollination is possible, it strongly reduces fertility, with reproductive outputs for hand self-pollination similar to those of interspecific crosses with the co-generic species O. hexasperma. Incompatibility with another commonly co-occurring co-generic species, O. floribunda, was complete, with a null fruit set, as occurred for the autonomous apomixis tests. Our pollen tube growth observations indicate that incompatibility occurs at the style, and is thus pre-zygotic. All three Ouratea species presented very high pollen viability. Manual pollen supplementation did not increase seed sets. Nevertheless, even after excess manual pollen supplementation, seed-to-ovule ratios were only 30%. Such limits are common in stressful environments, and fruit production for most Cerrado species is reported to be regularly under those levels. The apparent ubiquity of this fertility limit among Cerrado species poses interesting ecological questions, such as the role of environmental stress on reproduction and the potential overproduction of ovules as an evolutionary strategy to deal with seed predation – questions which deserve further research in the future.

Download Full-text

Reproductive biology, ecology and conservation of Carmichaelia williamsii (Fabaceae), a vulnerable legume from New Zealand

Pacific Conservation Biology ◽

10.1071/pc990179 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 5 (3) ◽

pp. 179 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Peter B. Heenan ◽

Peter J. De Lange

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Reproductive Biology ◽

Flower Morphology ◽

Pollination Syndrome ◽

Field Observations ◽

Bird Pollination ◽

The Poor ◽

Morphology And Structure ◽

Nectar Source ◽

Conservation And Management

Carmichaelia williamsii is a threatened leguminous shrub that is most common on the Poor Knights Islands and Aldermen Islands, northern New Zealand. Flower morphology and structure of C. williamsii is suited to a bird pollination syndrome as the floral parts are stout, the petals yellow, the nectar source is distant from the stigma, and the flowers lack scent. The stigma is covered by a protective cuticle that prevents pollination until it is ruptured, which would usually be by foraging birds. Experimental self- and cross-pollinations demonstrated that if the cuticle is not ruptured fertilization will not occur, and that the species is self-compatible. Field observations on Aorangi Island, Poor Knights Islands, confirmed that C. williamsii is probably bird pollinated as plants in full flower were being systematically worked by the native passerine honeyeater the Bellbird (Anthornis me/anura; Meliphagidae). C. williamsii mainly grows in seral habitats, and populations often comprise plants of a similar height class. Introduced rats and the loss of pollinating birds could pose conservation and management problems for the species.

Download Full-text

Distinctive convergence in Australian floral colours seen through the eyes of Australian birds

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2013.2862 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 281 (1781) ◽

pp. 20132862 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

Martin Burd ◽

C. Tristan Stayton ◽

Mani Shrestha ◽

Adrian G. Dyer

Keyword(s):

Visual System ◽

Significant Degree ◽

Floral Colour ◽

Pollination Syndrome ◽

Ancestral State ◽

Colour Space ◽

Bird Pollination ◽

Long Wavelength ◽

Avian Vision ◽

Australian Birds

We used a colour-space model of avian vision to assess whether a distinctive bird pollination syndrome exists for floral colour among Australian angiosperms. We also used a novel phylogenetically based method to assess whether such a syndrome represents a significant degree of convergent evolution. About half of the 80 species in our sample that attract nectarivorous birds had floral colours in a small, isolated region of colour space characterized by an emphasis on long-wavelength reflection. The distinctiveness of this ‘red arm’ region was much greater when colours were modelled for violet-sensitive (VS) avian vision than for the ultraviolet-sensitive visual system. Honeyeaters (Meliphagidae) are the dominant avian nectarivores in Australia and have VS vision. Ancestral state reconstructions suggest that 31 lineages evolved into the red arm region, whereas simulations indicate that an average of five or six lineages and a maximum of 22 are likely to have entered in the absence of selection. Thus, significant evolutionary convergence on a distinctive floral colour syndrome for bird pollination has occurred in Australia, although only a subset of bird-pollinated taxa belongs to this syndrome. The visual system of honeyeaters has been the apparent driver of this convergence.

Download Full-text