scholarly journals Best in the company of nearby males: female success in the threatened cycad,Zamia portoricensis

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e5252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julio C. Lazcano-Lara ◽  
James D. Ackerman
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Sex Ratios ◽  
Mate Finding ◽  
Plant Reproductive Success ◽  
Successful Recruitment ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Plant Pollinator ◽  
Two Populations ◽  
Operational Sex Ratios

Variation in plant reproductive success is affected by ecological conditions including the proximity of potential mates. We address the hypothesis that spatial distribution of sexes affects female reproductive success (RS) in the dioecious cycad,Zamia portoricensis.Are the frequencies of males, operational sex ratios, and distances to the nearest mate associated with RS in females? We studied the spatial distribution of sexes in two populations in Puerto Rico and compared RS of target females with the number of males and operational sex ratios. Population structure suggests regular successful recruitment. Adults, males, and females were randomly distributed with respect to one another. Reproductive success of females was highly variable, but was higher in neighborhoods with more males than females and generally decreased with increasing distance to the nearest male, becoming statistically significant beyond 190 cm. This possible mate-finding Allee effect indicates that pollinator movement among plants may be limited for this mutually dependent plant-pollinator interaction. Yet being close to male plants is a matter of chance, perhaps a factor generating the high intra-population genetic diversity inZ. portoricensis.

scholarly journals A New Native Plant in the Neighborhood: Effects on Plant–Pollinator Networks, Pollination, and Plant Reproductive Success

2020 ◽  
Vol 101 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Hernández‐Castellano ◽  
Anselm Rodrigo ◽  
José María Gómez ◽  
Constantí Stefanescu ◽  
Juan Antonio Calleja ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Neighborhood Effects ◽  
Native Plant ◽  
Plant Reproductive Success ◽  
Plant Pollinator

A new native plant in the neighborhood: effects on plant–pollinator networks, pollination, and plant reproductive success

Ecology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 101 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Hernández‐Castellano ◽  
Anselm Rodrigo ◽  
José María Gómez ◽  
Constantí Stefanescu ◽  
Juan Antonio Calleja ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Neighborhood Effects ◽  
Native Plant ◽  
Plant Reproductive Success ◽  
Plant Pollinator

Effects of ozone stress on flowering phenology, plant-pollinator interactions and plant reproductive success

2020 ◽  
pp. 115953
Author(s):  
Laura Duque ◽  
Erik H. Poelman ◽  
Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Flowering Phenology ◽  
Plant Reproductive Success ◽  
Ozone Stress ◽  
Plant Pollinator

scholarly journals The role of individual variation in flowering and pollination in the reproductive success of a crepuscular buzz-pollinated plant

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Costa Soares ◽  
Pietro Kiyoshi Maruyama ◽  
Vanessa Graziele Staggemeier ◽  
Leonor Patrícia Cerdeira Morellato ◽  
Márcio Silva Araújo
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Flowering Phenology ◽  
Southeastern Brazil ◽  
Individual Specialization ◽  
Plant Reproductive Success ◽  
Pollinator Specialization ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Pollination Systems ◽  
Plant Pollinator

Abstract Background and Aims Plant individuals within a population differ in their phenology and interactions with pollinators. However, it is still unknown how individual differences affect the reproductive success of plants that have functionally specialized pollination systems. Here, we evaluated whether plant individual specialization in phenology (temporal specialization) and in pollination (pollinator specialization) affect the reproductive success of the crepuscular-bee-pollinated plant Trembleya laniflora (Melastomataceae). Methods We quantified flowering activity (amplitude, duration and overlap), plant–pollinator interactions (number of flowers visited by pollinators) and reproductive success (fruit set) of T. laniflora individuals from three distinct locations in rupestrian grasslands of southeastern Brazil. We estimated the degree of individual temporal specialization in flowering phenology and of individual specialization in plant–pollinator interactions, and tested their relationship with plant reproductive success. Key Results Trembleya laniflora presented overlapping flowering, a temporal generalization and specialized pollinator interactions. Flowering overlap among individuals and populations was higher than expected by chance but did not affect the individual interactions with pollinators and nor their reproductive success. In contrast, higher individual generalization in the interactions with pollinators was related to higher individual reproductive success. Conclusions Our findings suggest that individual generalization in plant–pollinator interaction reduces the potential costs of specialization at the species level, ensuring reproductive success. Altogether, our results highlight the complexity of specialization/generalization of plant–pollinator interactions at distinct levels of organization, from individuals to populations, to species.

scholarly journals Community level individual-based plant-pollinator networks unveil pollen flow dynamics and plant reproductive success

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alfonso Allen-Perkins ◽  
María Hurtado ◽  
David García-Callejas ◽  
Oscar Godoy ◽  
Ignasi Bartomeus
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Individual Plant ◽  
Ecological Communities ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Heterospecific Pollen ◽  
Plant Reproductive Success ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Plant Pollinator

Ecological networks are a widely used tool to understand the dynamics of ecological communities in which plants interact with their pollinator counterparts. However, while most mutualistic networks have been defined at the species level, ecological processes, such as pollination, take place at the individual level. This recognition has led to the development of individual-based networks, yet current approaches only account for individuals of a single plant species due to conceptual and mathematical limitations. Here, we introduce a multilayer framework designed to depict the conspecific and heterospecific pollen flows mediated by floral visitors among plant individuals belonging to different species. Pollen transfer is modeled as a transport-like system, where an ensemble of conspecific plant-pollinator “circuits” are coupled through pollinators. With this physical conceptualization of ecological processes, we investigate how the reproductive success of plant individuals is affected by the overall dynamics of the whole multilayer network (macrostructure), as well as by their local position within the network (mesostructure). To illustrate this multiscale analysis, we apply it to a dataset of nine well-resolved individual plant-pollinator interaction networks from annual plant grasslands. Our results show that the resulting individual-based networks are highly modular, with insect visitors effectively connecting individuals of the same and different plant species. We also obtain empirical evidence that network structure is critical for modulating individual plant reproduction. In particular, the mesoscale level is the best descriptor of plant reproductive success, as it integrates the net effect of local heterospecific and conspecific interactions on seed production of a given individual. We provide a simple, but robust set of metrics to scale down network ecology to functioning properties at the individual level, where most ecological processes take place, hence moving forward the description and interpretation of multitrophic communities across scales.

scholarly journals Florivory by lizards on Tacinga inamoena (K.Schum.) N.P.Taylor & Stuppy (Cactaceae) in the Brazilian Caatinga

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Virgínia Helen Figueiredo Paixão ◽  
Vanessa Gabrielle Nóbrega Gomes ◽  
Eduardo Martins Venticinque
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Fruit Set ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Camera Traps ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Plant Reproductive Success ◽  
Reproductive Structures ◽  
Plant Pollinator ◽  
Fruit Formation

Abstract: Florivory can alter plant reproductive success by damaging sexual reproductive structures and disrupting plant-pollinator interactions through decreased flower attractiveness. Here, we report new records of the cactus Tacinga inamoena flower consumption by the Tropidurus hispidus lizard in the Brazilian Caatinga. We monitored 53 flowers from 11 T. inamoena individuals with camera traps over a 1-year period, totalling 450 camera-days of sample effort. We detected four florivory events. In three of these events, flowers were entirely consumed or had their reproductive structures severely damaged, leading to no fruit formation. Florivory events occurred in the morning, right after anthesis, in flowers near the ground, and lizards did not climb the cactus. Our results suggest that T. hispidus florivory on T. inamoena could have a negative impact on fruit set, since the consumed flowers were entirely destroyed. However, the long-term effects of florivory by lizards on T. inamoena reproductive success in the Caatinga still needs to be elucidated.

Changes in sex ratio over time in the endangered iguana Cyclura cychlura inornata

2006 ◽  
Vol 84 (10) ◽  
pp. 1522-1527 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey R. Smith ◽  
John B. Iverson
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Sex Ratios ◽  
Population Estimates ◽  
The Bahamas ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Two Populations ◽  
Over Time

Changes in sex ratio of a population over time can indicate possible conservation concerns. Using population estimates for males and females, we examined changes in the sex ratio of two populations of the endangered Allen’s Cay Rock Iguana ( Cyclura cychlura inornata Barbour and Noble, 1916) in the Bahamas over nearly 25 years. The sex ratios of both populations changed from strongly male-biased early in the study to nearly 1:1 in recent years. We hypothesize that this shift has occurred because of the recovery of these populations from intense harvesting (particularly of females) over the previous 100 years and, more recently, because of the removal of large males from the islands either by poachers or by tourists.

Reproductive success of Cardiopetalum calophyllum (Annonaceae) treelets in fragments of Brazilian savanna

2012 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 317-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcos Antônio da Silva Elias ◽  
Edivani Villaron Franceschinelli ◽  
Leandro Juen ◽  
Fábio Julio Alves Borges ◽  
Glalko Machado Ferreira ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Reproductive Output ◽  
Fragment Size ◽  
Ecosystem Processes ◽  
Brazilian Savanna ◽  
Habitat Isolation ◽  
Agricultural Activity ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Plant Reproductive Success ◽  
Plant Pollinator

Habitat fragmentation may affect essential ecosystem processes, such as pollination, causing negative effects on plants and pollinators (Aizen & Feinsinger 1994, Jennersten 1988, Lennartsson 2002, Liow et al. 2001, Murcia 1996). Effects of fragmentation on plant–pollinator interaction were evaluated in several studies (Aguirre & Dirzo 2008, Dauber et al. 2010, Dick 2001, Donaldson et al. 2002, Dunley et al. 2009, Fuchs et al. 2003, Ghazoul & McLeish 2001, Lopes & Buzato 2007). The Brazilian savanna, called cerrado, has been fragmented due in large part to extensive agricultural activity (Carvalho et al. 2009). Studies with the main objective of evaluating the influence of fragment size on ecosystem processes and on plant reproductive output has not been determined in cerrado. The plants of this type of vegetation seem to produce generally low number of fruits per flower (Gribel & Hay 1993, Munin et al. 2008, Ortiz et al. 2003). This may be due to the low soil fertility (Franco 2002, Haridasan 2000). But the recent fragmentation of this biome may reduce even more their plant reproductive success because it can increase the effect of pollination limitation and inbreeding caused by the habitat isolation and degradation.

scholarly journals Reproductive behavior in horseshoe crabs: Does density matter?

2010 ◽  
Vol 56 (5) ◽  
pp. 634-642 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer H. Mattei ◽  
Mark A. Beekey ◽  
Adam Rudman ◽  
Alyssa Woronik
Keyword(s):  
Population Density ◽  
Mating Behavior ◽  
Sex Ratios ◽  
Reproductive Traits ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Delaware Bay ◽  
Mate Finding ◽  
Male Condition ◽  
Horseshoe Crabs ◽  
Operational Sex Ratios

Abstract While the four species of horseshoe crabs share many common reproductive traits with respect to their reproductive systems, they do differ with respect to their mating behavior (monogamy vs. polygynandry). Past research has attributed these differences to a number of factors including: spawning densities, operational sex ratios (OSR's), male condition (or age), environmental and/or genetic factors, or a combination thereof. Mating behaviors in the three Asian horseshoe crab species (Tachypleus gigas, T. tridentatus, and Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda) with low spawning densities and 1:1 operational sex ratios are typically monogamous. In Limulus polyphemus, mating behavior is more variable ranging from monogamy to polygynandry. Here we provide evidence, through a long term behavioral study, that variation in mating behavior is influenced by population density in L. polyphemus. Our study population on two beaches in Connecticut (Long Island Sound) have a spawning density 400 times less than that found in Delaware Bay (0.002 females/m2 vs. 0.8 females/m2) but similar operational sex ratios. Between 90%-95% of all spawning females in CT were paired with only one male, thus exhibiting monogamous behavior. In contrast, between 30 and 60% of spawning females in Delaware Bay have more than one mate and produce clutches of eggs with multiple paternities. Male condition played no role in mating behavior in CT populations. We also observed that on average 18% of the females on the spawning beaches are single. These results suggest that population density is an important condition that determines mating behavior. Also, low population density may lead to decreased mate finding ability and lost opportunities for spawning.

scholarly journals Niche complementarity among pollinators increases community-level plant reproductive success

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ainhoa Magrach ◽  
Francisco P. Molina ◽  
Ignasi Bartomeus
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Species Interactions ◽  
Community Level ◽  
Pollinator Visitation ◽  
Niche Complementarity ◽  
Pollinator Diversity ◽  
Plant Reproductive Success ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Plant Pollinator

AbstractOur understanding of how the structure of species interactions shapes natural communities has increased, particularly regarding plant-pollinator interactions. However, research linking pollinator diversity to reproductive success has focused on pairwise plant-pollinator interactions, largely overlooking community-level dynamics. Here, we present one of the first empirical studies linking pollinator visitation to plant reproduction from a community-wide perspective. We use a well-replicated dataset encompassing 16 plant-pollinator networks and data on reproductive success for 19 plant species from Mediterranean shrub ecosystems. We find that statistical models including simple visitation metrics are sufficient to explain the variability observed. However, a mechanistic understanding of how pollinator diversity affects reproductive success requires additional information on network structure. Specifically, we find positive effects of increasing complementarity in the plant species visited by different pollinators on plant reproductive success. Hence, maintaining communities with a diversity of species but also of functions is paramount to preserving plant diversity.

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