scholarly journals Vertical stratification of plant–pollinator interactions in a temperate grassland

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e4998 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Klecka ◽  
Jiří Hadrava ◽  
Pavla Koloušková
Keyword(s):  
Plant Traits ◽  
Vertical Stratification ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Vertical Position ◽  
Individual Plant ◽  
Significant Shift ◽  
Visitation Rate ◽  
Flower Visitation ◽  
Pollinator Community ◽  
Plant Pollinator

Visitation of plants by different pollinators depends on individual plant traits, spatial context, and other factors. A neglected aspect of small-scale variation of plant–pollinator interactions is the role of vertical position of flowers. We conducted a series of experiments to study vertical stratification of plant–pollinator interactions in a dry grassland. We observed flower visitors on cut inflorescences ofCentaurea scabiosaandInula salicinaplaced at different heights above ground in two types of surrounding vegetation: short and tall. Even at such a small-scale, we detected significant shift in total visitation rate of inflorescences in response to their vertical position. In short vegetation, inflorescences close to the ground were visited more frequently, while in tall vegetation, inflorescences placed higher received more visits. Moreover, we found major differences in the composition of the pollinator community on flowers at different heights. In a second experiment, we measured flower visitation rate in inflorescences ofSalvia verticillataof variable height. Total flower visitation rate increased markedly with inflorescence height in this case. Data on seed set of individual plants provide evidence for a corresponding positive pollinator-mediated selection on increased inflorescence height. Overall, our results demonstrate strong vertical stratification of plant–pollinator interactions at the scale of mere decimetres. This may have important ecological as well as evolutionary implications.

scholarly journals Vertical stratification of plant-pollinator interactions in a temperate grassland

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Klecka ◽  
Jiří Hadrava ◽  
Pavla Koloušková
Keyword(s):  
Plant Traits ◽  
Vertical Stratification ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Vertical Position ◽  
Individual Plant ◽  
Significant Shift ◽  
Visitation Rate ◽  
Flower Visitation ◽  
Pollinator Community ◽  
Plant Pollinator

Visitation of plants by different pollinators depends on individual plant traits, spatial context, and other factors. A neglected aspect of small-scale variation of plant-pollinator interactions is the role of vertical position of flowers. We conducted a series of experiments to study vertical stratification of plant-pollinator interactions in a dry grassland. We observed flower visitors on cut inflorescences of Centaurea scabiosa and Inula salicina placed at different heights above ground in two types of surrounding vegetation: short and tall. Even at such a small-scale, we detected significant shift in total visitation rate of inflorescences in response to their vertical position. In short vegetation, inflorescences close to the ground were visited more frequently, while in tall vegetation, inflorescences placed higher received more visits. Moreover, we found major differences in the composition of the pollinator community on flowers at different heights. In a second experiment, we measured flower visitation rate in inflorescences of Salvia verticillata of variable height. Total flower visitation rate increased markedly with inflorescence height in this case. Data on seed set of individual plants provide evidence for a corresponding positive pollinator-mediated selection on increased inflorescence height. Overall, our results demonstrate strong vertical stratification of plant-pollinator interactions at the scale of mere decimetres. This may have important ecological as well as evolutionary implications.

scholarly journals Vertical stratification of plant-pollinator interactions in a temperate grassland

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Klecka ◽  
Jiří Hadrava ◽  
Pavla Koloušková
Keyword(s):  
Plant Traits ◽  
Vertical Stratification ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Vertical Position ◽  
Individual Plant ◽  
Significant Shift ◽  
Visitation Rate ◽  
Flower Visitation ◽  
Pollinator Community ◽  
Plant Pollinator

Visitation of plants by different pollinators depends on individual plant traits, spatial context, and other factors. A neglected aspect of small-scale variation of plant-pollinator interactions is the role of vertical position of flowers. We conducted a series of experiments to study vertical stratification of plant-pollinator interactions in a dry grassland. We observed flower visitors on cut inflorescences of Centaurea scabiosa and Inula salicina placed at different heights above ground in two types of surrounding vegetation: short and tall. Even at such a small-scale, we detected significant shift in total visitation rate of inflorescences in response to their vertical position. In short vegetation, inflorescences close to the ground were visited more frequently, while in tall vegetation, inflorescences placed higher received more visits. Moreover, we found major differences in the composition of the pollinator community on flowers at different heights. In a second experiment, we measured flower visitation rate in inflorescences of Salvia verticillata of variable height. Total flower visitation rate increased markedly with inflorescence height in this case. Data on seed set of individual plants provide evidence for a corresponding positive pollinator-mediated selection on increased inflorescence height. Overall, our results demonstrate strong vertical stratification of plant-pollinator interactions at the scale of mere decimetres. This may have important ecological as well as evolutionary implications.

scholarly journals Vertical stratification of plant-pollinator interactions in a temperate grassland

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Klecka ◽  
Jiří Hadrava ◽  
Pavla Koloušková
Keyword(s):  
Vertical Stratification ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Vertical Position ◽  
Significant Shift ◽  
Visitation Rate ◽  
Flower Visitation ◽  
Pollinator Community ◽  
Series Of Experiments ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Plant Pollinator

Interactions between plants and their pollinators vary in time and space at different scales. A neglected aspect of small-scale variation of plant-pollinator interactions is the role of vertical position of flowers. We conducted a series of experiments to study vertical stratification of plant-pollinator interactions in a dry grassland. We observed flower visitors on cut inflorescences of Centaurea scabiosa and Inula salicina placed at different heights above ground in two types of surrounding vegetation: short and tall. Even at such a small-scale, we detected significant shift in total visitation rate of inflorescences in response to their vertical position. In short vegetation, inflorescences close to the ground were visited more frequently, while in high vegetation, inflorescences placed higher received more visits. Moreover, we found major differences in the composition of the pollinator community on flowers at different heights. In a second experiment, we measured flower visitation rate in inflorescences of Salvia verticillata of variable height. Overall flower visitation rate increased markedly with inflorescence height. We also detected a corresponding positive pollinator-mediated selection on increased inflorescence height using data on seed set of individual plants. Overall, our results demonstrate strong vertical stratification of plant-pollinator interactions at the scale of mere decimetres. This may be an important, albeit underappreciated, driver of plant-pollinator coevolution.

scholarly journals Effects of small-scale clustering of flowers on pollinator foraging behaviour and flower visitation rate

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Asma Akter ◽  
Paolo Biella ◽  
Jan Klecka
Keyword(s):  
Foraging Behaviour ◽  
Spatial Clustering ◽  
Ideal Free Distribution ◽  
Handling Time ◽  
Optimal Foraging Theory ◽  
Foraging Strategies ◽  
Distribution Model ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Visitation Rate ◽  
Flower Visitation

AbstractPlants often grow in clusters of various sizes and have a variable number of flowers per inflorescence. This small-scale spatial clustering affects insect foraging strategies and plant reproductive success. In our study, we aimed to determine how visitation rate and foraging behaviour of pollinators depend on the number of flowers per plant and on the size of clusters of multiple plants using Dracocephalum moldavica (Lamiaceae) as a target species. We measured flower visitation rate by observations of insects visiting single plants and clusters of plants with different numbers of flowers. Detailed data on foraging behaviour within clusters of different sizes were gathered for honeybees, Apis mellifera, the most abundant visitor of Dracocephalum in the experiments. We found that the total number of flower visitors increased with the increasing number of flowers on individual plants and in larger clusters, but less then proportionally. Although individual honeybees visited more flowers in larger clusters, they visited a smaller proportion of flowers, as has been previously observed. Consequently, visitation rate per flower and unit time peaked in clusters with an intermediate number of flowers. These patterns do not conform to expectations based on optimal foraging theory and the ideal free distribution model. We attribute this discrepancy to incomplete information about the distribution of resources. Detailed observations and video recordings of individual honeybees also showed that the number of flowers had no effect on handling time of flowers by honeybees. We evaluated the implications of these patterns for insect foraging biology and plant reproduction.

scholarly journals Experimental loss of generalist plants reveals alterations in plant-pollinator interactions and a constrained flexibility of foraging

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paolo Biella ◽  
Asma Akter ◽  
Jeff Ollerton ◽  
Sam Tarrant ◽  
Štěpán Janeček ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Traits ◽  
Sugar Content ◽  
Ecosystem Dynamics ◽  
Pollinator Effectiveness ◽  
Flower Visitor ◽  
Flower Visitors ◽  
Flower Visitation ◽  
Key Species ◽  
High Sugar Content ◽  
Plant Pollinator

AbstractSpecies extinctions undermine ecosystem functioning but species do not disappear at random. Ecosystem dynamics are ruled by a subset of dominant species, but it is not clear how losing several of these key species would affect plant-pollinator interactions. We tested how the experimental loss of the most highly visited generalist plants would affect flower visitor abundances (visitation) and pollinator effectiveness (quantity of pollen-tubes within pistils) in several sites. Significant changes in the plant-pollinator communities were detected. Firstly, visitation decreased after removing 1-2 most visited plants, suggesting that these species mostly facilitate other plants by keeping high flower visitor abundances in the sites. Nevertheless, we recorded within-site variations of these trends, especially among sampled transects and among plant species, suggesting that complex facilitation-competition interactions occur among plants, but that these vary among transects within the same sites. Pollinator effectiveness fluctuated but not in a clear linear way and was not directly linked to changes of flower visitation. This suggests that fluctuations of pollinator effectiveness might be due to destabilization of the pollinators by the removal of key resources. In addition, we detected a constrained flexibility of the foraging of flower visitors because they did not switch among flower shapes and they favoured specific plant traits such as high sugar content, small inflorescences and taller plants. Indeed, these constraints would eventually limit utilisation of new resources after perturbations, possibly undermining the stability of the system. In conclusion, our work demonstrates that the loss of dominant, highly generalist plants alters plant-pollinator interactions with implications for pollination and insect foraging. Therefore, in order to preserve ecosystems, generalist plants should not get lost, because they sustain the complex pattern of interactions between plants and flower visitors.

Pollinator gardens more than triple in visitation rate and diversity of flower-visiting insects than other ornamental plantings in Kingston, Ontario

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marika Vogelzang
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Unit Area ◽  
The Other ◽  
Individual Plant ◽  
University Campus ◽  
Pollinator Visitation ◽  
Visitation Rate ◽  
Queen's University ◽  
Flower Visiting ◽  
Pollinator Populations

In this study I determined the effectiveness of pollinator gardens by testing if visitation rate and diversity of flower-visiting insects is higher in pollinator gardens compared to other ornamental plantings. I observed pollinator visitation for individual plant taxa, per unit area, in three different pollinator gardens, eight ornamental gardens and eight ornamental planters on the Queen’s University campus in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Visitation was about 4- times higher in pollinator gardens compared to the other two ornamental garden types and visitor richness (the number of types of pollinators) in pollinator gardens was about 6- times higher compared to ornamental gardens, and about 3- times higher compared toornamental planters. The results of this study conclude that the planting of pollinator gardens is an effective way of supporting pollinator populations in urban areas.

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