Orchestrated Flowering and Interspecific Facilitation: Key Factors in the Maintenance of the Main Pollinator of Coexisting Threatened Species of Andean Wax Palms (Ceroxylon spp.)

2020 ◽  
Vol 105 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-299
Author(s):  
Javier Carreño-Barrera ◽  
Luis Alberto Núñez-Avellaneda ◽  
Maria José Sanín ◽  
Artur Campos D. Maia
Keyword(s):  
Conservation Status ◽  
Population Decline ◽  
Floral Biology ◽  
Fruit Production ◽  
Biological Data ◽  
Fruit Yield ◽  
Insect Species ◽  
Individual Species ◽  
Pollination Services ◽  
Flower Visiting

Solitary, dioecious, and mostly endemic to Andean cloud forests, wax palms (Ceroxylon Bonpl. ex DC. spp.) are currently under worrisome conservation status. The establishment of management plans for their dwindling populations rely on detailed biological data, including their reproductive ecology. As in the case of numerous other Neotropical palm taxa, small beetles are assumed to be selective pollinators of wax palms, but their identity and relevance in successful fruit yield were unknown. During three consecutive reproductive seasons we collected data on population phenology and reproductive and floral biology of three syntopic species of wax palms native to the Colombian Andes. We also determined the composition of the associated flower-visiting entomofauna, quantifying the extent of the role of individual species as effective pollinators through standardized value indexes that take into consideration abundance, constancy, and pollen transport efficiency. The studied populations of C. parvifrons (Engel) H. Wendl., C. ventricosum Burret, and C. vogelianum (Engel) H. Wendl. exhibit seasonal reproductive cycles with marked temporal patterns of flower and fruit production. The composition of the associated flower-visiting entomofauna, comprised by ca. 50 morphotypes, was constant across flowering seasons and differed only marginally among species. Nonetheless, a fraction of the insect species associated with pistillate inflorescences actually carried pollen, and calculated pollinator importance indexes demonstrated that one insect species alone, Mystrops rotundula Sharp, accounted for 94%–99% of the effective pollination services for all three species of wax palms. The sequential asynchronous flowering of C. parvifrons, C. ventricosum, and C. vogelianum provides an abundant and constant supply of pollen, pivotal for the maintenance of large populations of their shared pollinators, a cooperative strategy proven effective by high fruit yield rates (up to 79%). Reproductive success might be compromised for all species by the population decline of one of them, as it would tamper with the temporal orchestration of pollen offer.

scholarly journals Land-Use Impact on Stand Structure and Fruit Yield of Tamarindus indica L. in the Drylands of Southeastern Ethiopia

Life ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 408
Author(s):  
Gizachew Zeleke ◽  
Tatek Dejene ◽  
Wubalem Tadesse ◽  
Pablo Martín-Pinto
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Stand Structure ◽  
Fruit Production ◽  
Tree Density ◽  
Fruit Yield ◽  
Tamarindus Indica ◽  
Land Use Types ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Management Plans ◽  
Baseline Information

In this study, we evaluated stand status, dendrometric variables, and fruit production of Tamarind (Tamarindus indica L.) trees growing in bushland and farmland-use types in dryland areas of Ethiopia. The vegetation survey was conducted using the point-centered quarter method. The fruit yield of 54 trees was also evaluated. Tree density and fruit production in ha were estimated. There was a significant difference in Tamarind tree density between the two land-use types (p = 0.01). The mean fruit yield of farmland trees was significantly higher than that of bushland trees. However, Tamarind has unsustainable structure on farmlands. Differences in the dendrometric characteristics of trees were also observed between the two land-use types. Predictive models were selected for Tamarind fruit yield estimations in both land-use types. Although the majority of farmland trees produced <5000 fruit year−1, the selection of Tamarind germplasm in its natural ranges could improve production. Thus, the development of management plans to establish stands that have a more balanced diameter structure and thereby ensure continuity of the population and fruit yields is required in this area, particularly in the farmlands. This baseline information could assist elsewhere in areas that are facing similar challenges for the species due to land-use change.

Reproductive success of wind, generalist, and specialist pollinated plant species following wildfire in desert landscapes

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (12) ◽  
pp. 1030 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew H. Lybbert ◽  
Justin Taylor ◽  
Alysa DeFranco ◽  
Samuel B. St Clair
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Mojave Desert ◽  
Fruit Production ◽  
Native Plant ◽  
Pollination Services ◽  
Generalist Species ◽  
Plant Reproductive Success ◽  
Show Evidence ◽  
Specialist Species

Wildfire can drastically affect plant sexual reproductive success in plant–pollinator systems. We assessed plant reproductive success of wind, generalist and specialist pollinated plant species along paired unburned, burned-edge and burned-interior locations of large wildfires in the Mojave Desert. Flower production of wind and generalist pollinated plants was greater in burned landscapes than adjacent unburned areas, whereas specialist species responses were more neutral. Fruit production of generalist species was greater in burned landscapes than in unburned areas, whereas fruit production of wind- and specialist-pollinated species showed no difference in burned and unburned landscapes. Plants surviving in wildfire-disturbed landscapes did not show evidence of pollination failure, as measured by fruit set and seed:ovule ratios. Generalist- and specialist-plant species established in the interior of burned landscapes showed no difference in fruit production than plants established on burned edges suggesting that pollination services are conserved with increasing distance from fire boundaries in burned desert landscapes. Stimulation of plant reproduction in burned environments due to competition release may contribute to the maintenance of pollinator services and re-establishment of the native plant community in post-fire desert environments.

scholarly journals Yield of gherkin in response to doses of bovine manure

2009 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 100-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arnaldo Nonato P de Oliveira ◽  
Ademar P de Oliveira ◽  
Francisco de Assis P Leonardo ◽  
Iordam da S Cruz ◽  
Damiana F da Silva
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Design ◽  
Fruit Production ◽  
Fruit Yield ◽  
Northeastern Brazil ◽  
Experimental Plot

Considering the importance of gherkin in Northeastern Brazil, studies focusing on increasing its quality and yield are powerful tools to improve people social and economical condition in this region. The effects of doses of bovine manure were evaluated in gherkin yield in an experiment using cultivar Nordestino, from May to September 2006, at the Federal University of Paraíba, in Areia County, Paraíba State, Brazil. The experimental design was randomized complete blocks, with five treatments (0; 10; 20; 30, and 40 t ha-1) of bovine manure, in four replications. The working area in each experimental plot corresponded to 80 m², including 20 plants, with 2.0 x 2.0 m spaces. The highest number of fruits per plant (30) was achieved with 32.2 t ha-1 of bovine manure. Both fruit production per plant and fruit yield increased with doses of bovine manure, with maximum values of respectively 1,306 g and 19.5 t ha-1, when 40 t ha-1 of bovine manure were used.

scholarly journals Precision management of pollination services to blueberry crops

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Cavigliasso ◽  
P. Negri ◽  
M. Viel ◽  
M. M. Graziani ◽  
C. Challiol ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Key Management ◽  
Fruit Production ◽  
Fruit Weight ◽  
Strength Distribution ◽  
Pollination Services ◽  
Precision Management ◽  
Fruit Productivity ◽  
Account Due ◽  
Pollination Systems ◽  
Large Groups

AbstractWhile the cultivated area of pollinator-dependent crops is increasing, pollinator availability is decreasing, leading to problems in many agroecosystems. For this reason, pollinator-dependent crop growers often rent beehives to support their pollination requirements to sustain fruit productivity. However, the efficiency of those pollination systems has not been extensively studied. Here, we compared the effect of “precision” pollination (i.e., application of pesticides coordinated with growers, audit of hives, dietary supplementation and individual distribution of hives) with conventional practices (i.e., pesticides applications without coordination with growers and no audit of hives, low maintenance of hives and hives distributed in large groups) on the mean level of pollination and fruit production and quality in blueberry crops. In nine blueberry fields, we measured bee visitation rate to flowers, fruit set, fruit firmness and fruit weight. On average, precision-pollinated plots had 70% more bee visits to flowers and produced 13% more fruits that were 12% heavier and 12% firmer than those obtained through conventional practices. These results showed that pollination efficiency could be improved if key management related to bee strength, distribution and health care are taken into account. Due to these results, we encourage growers and beekeepers to include precision pollination practices to both increase the productivity of blueberry fields and the wellbeing of honey bees within agroecosystems.

scholarly journals Distribution update, conservation status and color in life of the rare Amazonian snake, Eutrachelophis papilio Zaher and Prudente 2019 (Serpentes: Xenodontini)

2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 252-255
Author(s):  
Nathalie CITELI ◽  
Mariana DE-CARVALHO ◽  
Reuber BRANDÃO
Keyword(s):  
Convex Polygon ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Biological Data ◽  
Distribution Area ◽  
Minimum Convex Polygon ◽  
Human Footprint ◽  
Data Deficient ◽  
First Time ◽  
Polygon Method ◽  
Anthropic Pressure

ABSTRACT The rare Amazonian snake Eutrachelophis papilio is known from only five individuals, from four localities, belonging to its type-series, the more recent collected over 10 years ago. Here, we expand its distribution and describe its color in life for the first time. We also provide an estimate of its distribution area using the minimum convex polygon method and identify the values of anthropic pressure within its known distribution range with the Human Footprint Index. The new occurrence is located 291 km from the nearest known locality and its distribution is associated with pristine forests. Considering its rarity, and the absence of demographic and biological data, we suggest that the species should be classified as Data Deficient by IUCN criteria.

scholarly journals The floriphilic katydid, Phaneroptera brevis, is a frequent flower visitor of non-native, flowering forbs

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 21-26
Author(s):  
Ming Kai Tan ◽  
Hui Lee ◽  
Hugh Tiang Wah Tan
Keyword(s):  
Model Organism ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Plant Species Richness ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
Pollination Services ◽  
Resource Concentration ◽  
Flower Visitors ◽  
Resource Concentration Hypothesis ◽  
Flower Visitation ◽  
Flower Visiting

Distribution of consumers in a patch of vegetation can be predicted by resource availability and explained by the resource-concentration and optimal-foraging hypotheses. These hypotheses have not been explored for flower-visiting Orthoptera because they are deemed less economically or ecologically important. Some flower-visiting orthopterans can provide pollination services, which warrants more attention. We studied a Singaporean, floriphilic katydid, Phaneropterabrevis, to investigate the following questions: 1) how frequently does P.brevis visit flowers compared to other flower visitors and 2) what factors predict the abundance of P.brevis? We collected abundance data for P.brevis and other flower-visiting arthropods and quantified seven environmental parameters, including flower abundance and host-plant species richness. We found that P.brevis frequents flowers significantly more often than some common and expected flower visitors such as hoverflies. In line with the prediction of the resource-concentration hypothesis, the abundance of P.brevis was positively correlated with a higher flower abundance. Owing to the limited information on unexpected wild flower visitors and pollinators, especially from the understudied tropics of Southeast Asia, we propose that P.brevis can be a model organism for future studies to answer fundamental questions on flower visitation.

scholarly journals Estimation of the relative abundance of species in artificial mixtures of insects using low-coverage shotgun metagenomics

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lidia Garrido-Sanz ◽  
Miquel Àngel Senar ◽  
Josep Piñol
Keyword(s):  
Relative Abundance ◽  
Species Abundance ◽  
Single Species ◽  
Insect Species ◽  
Individual Species ◽  
Advanced Degree ◽  
Mixed Species ◽  
Species List ◽  
Shotgun Metagenomics ◽  
Low Coverage

Amplicon metabarcoding is an established technique to analyse the taxonomic composition of communities of organisms using high-throughput DNA sequencing, but there are doubts about its ability to quantify the relative proportions of the species, as opposed to the species list. Here, we bypass the enrichment step and avoid the PCR-bias, by directly sequencing the extracted DNA using shotgun metagenomics. This approach is common practice in prokaryotes, but not in eukaryotes, because of the low number of sequenced genomes of eukaryotic species. We tested the metagenomics approach using insect species whose genome is already sequenced and assembled to an advanced degree. We shotgun-sequenced, at low-coverage, 18 species of insects in 22 single-species and 6 mixed-species libraries and mapped the reads against 110 reference genomes of insects. We used the single-species libraries to calibrate the process of assignation of reads to species and the libraries created from species mixtures to evaluate the ability of the method to quantify the relative species abundance. Our results showed that the shotgun metagenomic method is easily able to set apart closely-related insect species, like four species of Drosophila included in the artificial libraries. However, to avoid the counting of rare misclassified reads in samples, it was necessary to use a rather stringent detection limit of 0.001, so species with a lower relative abundance are ignored. We also identified that approximately half the raw reads were informative for taxonomic purposes. Finally, using the mixed-species libraries, we showed that it was feasible to quantify with confidence the relative abundance of individual species in the mixtures.

scholarly journals Fruit yield of strawberry stock plants after runner tip production by different cultivars

2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 375-379 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miriane Dal Picio ◽  
Jerônimo Luiz Andriolo ◽  
Djeimi Isabel Jänisch ◽  
Odair José Schmitt ◽  
Maíne Alessandra Lerner
Keyword(s):  
Root Nodule ◽  
Cropping System ◽  
Fruit Production ◽  
Fragaria X Ananassa ◽  
Fruit Yield ◽  
Fresh Fruit

The main objective of this research was to determine fruit yield of strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa) stock plants in a cropping system after producing runner tips and plug plants. Micropropagated stock plants were planted in a soilless growing system. Runner tips bearing at least one visible root nodule were harvested at 43, 66 and 87 days after planting, rooted and planted as multiplied stock plants for producing plug plants. Treatments consisted of micropropagated stock plants of cultivars INIA Arazá, INIA Guenoa and INIA Yvapitá, planted on October 1st, 2008 (T1); multiplied stock plants planted on November 28th (T2) and on December 21st, 2008 (T3), and on January, 10th, 2009 (T4). On May 22nd, 2009, stock plants were defoliated and plug plants of the same cultivars were planted as control for fruit production. Early fruit yield and number of fruits were higher on stock plants, but fresh fruit yield was higher on control plants. Total fruit yield and number were higher on stock plants of 'INIA Arazá' and 'INIA Guenoa'. We concluded that strawberry stock plants reach higher early and total fresh fruit yield than plug transplants in the second cropping year after producing runner tips in a soilless growing system. Therefore, plants should not be discarded after the production of runner tips.

Solitary bee pollinators adjust pollen foraging to the unpredictable flower opening of a species of Petunia (Solanaceae)

2019 ◽  
Vol 129 (2) ◽  
pp. 273-287
Author(s):  
Fernanda Figueiredo De Araujo ◽  
Reisla Oliveira ◽  
Theo Mota ◽  
João Renato Stehmann ◽  
Clemens Schlindwein
Keyword(s):  
Floral Biology ◽  
Floral Resources ◽  
Pollen Foraging ◽  
Flower Opening ◽  
Foraging Patterns ◽  
Social Species ◽  
Pollen Presentation ◽  
Total Pollen ◽  
Flower Visiting ◽  
Effective Pollinators

Abstract Details of the foraging patterns of solitary bees are much less well known than those of social species, and these patterns are often adjusted to exploit floral resources of one or only a few species. The specialized flower-visiting bees of Petunia are good models for investigating such foraging patterns. Here we analysed the floral biology and pollen presentation schedule of the endangered Petunia mantiqueirensis in mixed Araucaria forests of Serra da Mantiqueira, Brazil. Pollinators and their pollen foraging behaviour and food specialization were determined through analyses of scopa pollen loads. Flowers opened throughout the day and presented all their pollen resources within the first 30 min of anthesis, thus providing their pollen resources in an asynchronous fashion in one-flower packages throughout the day. Females of Pseudagapostemon fluminensis were the most frequent flower visitors, contacting stigmas in 96% of their visits, and were the unique effective pollinators of Petunia mantiqueirensis. These pollinators were responsible for the first three visits to 115 individually monitored flowers at any daylight hour, removing ~86% of a flower’s total pollen supply during the first visit. Although female bees harvest the majority of pollen resources of Petunia mantiqueirensis, analyses of scopa loads revealed that most of them also collect pollen from plants of other families while foraging for pollen in Petunia flowers.

scholarly journals Pollination Services from Insects in Homegardens in the Chengdu Plain will be Confronted with Crises

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 2169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qin Liu ◽  
Pei Xu ◽  
Kun Yan ◽  
Yingman Guo
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Peak Time ◽  
Bee Pollination ◽  
Insect Pollination ◽  
Peach Fruit ◽  
Pollination Services ◽  
Chengdu Plain ◽  
Yield And Quality ◽  
Field Investigations ◽  
Flower Visiting

Chengdu Plain is one of China’s most important agricultural production zones and has a large human population. Agricultural crops require insect pollination to increase yield and quality, which is especially important in plains areas where forest area is small. Homegardens are the main habitat of pollinators. The present study identified the importance of insect pollination in homegardens in the Chengdu Plain through field investigations and comparative experiments and revealed the risk to pollination services caused by the decrease in diversity and population of managed and wild pollinators. The results showed that (1) prohibiting all insect pollination (treatment A) and prohibiting managed bee pollination (treatment B) significantly reduced the yield and seed number of rapeseed and significantly reduced the size, weight, and sweetness of peach fruit, but had no significant effects on plums; (2) the dependence on insect pollination and the economic values of insect pollination for rapeseed and peaches are 0.56 and $85.1 million and 0.44 and $31.0 million, respectively; (3) there were 23 flower-visiting pollinator species at the experimental sites including: four species of managed bees and 19 species of wild pollinators. The peak time for pollinators to visit flowers was 11:00 to 15:00, and the managed bees accounted for over 67.55% of these visits; (4) within a radius of 1000 m from the site, 58.06% of the bees were non-locally managed, and the bee population managed locally by farmers decreased; and (5) compared with 2008, the number of homegardens decreased by 17.24%, the managed bees within the homegardens decreased by 62.05%, and the disappearance and destruction of homegardens led to a significant reduction in wild pollinators.

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