Avian pollinators and the pollination syndromes of selected Mountain Fynbos plants

Rebelo, Anthony G.; Siegfried, W. R.; Crowe, Anna

doi:10.1016/s0022-4618(16)30017-1

Cited by 53 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Pollination research in this speciesrich vegetation-type has been confined to specialized groups of plants (Rebelo, Siegfried, and Crowe, 1984;Rebelo and Siegfried, 1985). The site is on the side of a small mountain in the Hottentot-Holland chain (325 m-935 m) and includes the proteoid, restioid, and ericoid elements that characterize this flora.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of Flower Characteristics, Weather, Time of Day, and Season on Insect Visitation Rates in Three Plant Communities

McCall¹,

Primack²

1992

American Journal of Botany

172

115

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JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. Pollination biology at the community level was investigated using quantitative techniques, comparative methodology, measurements of the physical habitat, and consideration of floral characteristics. The frequency of insect visits to flowers was investigated in three contrasting communities: a deciduous woodland-meadow site in eastern Massachusetts, alpine tundra in New Hampshire, and Mediterranean scrub (fynbos) in South Africa. Visits to flowers were most common in woodland-meadow, followed by alpine tundra, and least frequent in fynbos. Bees were the most common visitor in the woodland-meadow and the fynbos, but flies were the most common visitor in the tundra. Flower color often influenced visitation rates and had a weak but significant effect on the type of insect that visited flowers. Preferences for color by different types of insects often changed in different communities, which suggests that floral syndromes may be communityspecific. In all communities, tubular flowers were visited less often than open flowers. Less specialized insects were more common on open than tubular flowers, but large variances made few differences statistically significant. Combining measurements of temperature, light, humidity, wind speed, time of day, and season (using cluster analysis) with the shape of a flower, it was predicted that a 1 0-minute observation would include at least one visit. Flower shape, temperature, light, and season appear to be the most important variables influencing insect visitation rates. Results of this study indicate that relationships between insects and flowers are nonspecific and vary among communities.Pollination biology is currently undergoing a renaissance because of its importance in understanding plant breeding systems, floral evolution, foraging theory, and animal behavior. Although most recent work has concentrated on single plant species, a number of communitylevel studies of pollination biology have also been undertaken (Kevan

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of Flower Characteristics, Weather, Time of Day, and Season on Insect Visitation Rates in Three Plant Communities

McCall¹,

Primack²

1992

American Journal of Botany

172

115

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Gen, insect generalist pollination syndrome; LPF, long‐proboscid fly. a, (Pirie et al , ); b, (Gil‐López et al , ); c, (Rebelo et al , ); d, (Rebelo et al , ); e, (Heystek et al , ); f, (Herrera, ); g, (Geerts, ); h, (Fern & Fern, ); i, (Plants_Database, ); j, (Turner, ); k, (Notten, ); l, (Joy Stadler, pers. obs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modularity and evolution of flower shape: the role of function, development, and spandrels inErica

et al. 2020

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Summary Flowers have been hypothesized to contain either modules of attraction and reproduction, functional modules (pollination‐effecting parts) or developmental modules (organ‐specific). Do pollination specialization and syndromes influence floral modularity? In order to test these hypotheses and answer this question, we focused on the genus Erica: we gathered 3D data from flowers of 19 species with diverse syndromes via computed tomography, and for the first time tested the above‐mentioned hypotheses via 3D geometric morphometrics. To provide an evolutionary framework for our results, we tested the evolutionary mode of floral shape, size and integration under the syndromes regime, and – for the first time – reconstructed the high‐dimensional floral shape of their most recent common ancestor. We demonstrate that the modularity of the 3D shape of generalist flowers depends on development and that of specialists is linked to function: modules of pollen deposition and receipt in bird syndrome, and access‐restriction to the floral reward in long‐proboscid fly syndrome. Only size and shape principal component 1 showed multiple‐optima selection, suggesting that they were co‐opted during evolution to adapt flowers to novel pollinators. Whole floral shape followed an Ornstein–Uhlenbeck (selection‐driven) evolutionary model, and differentiated relatively late. Flower shape modularity thus crucially depends on pollinator specialization and syndrome.

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“…Autogamy is apparently rare in most of the South-Western Cape Erica species (Rebelo et al 1985). Approximately 70 species are pollinated by birds, mainly by the relatively short-billed orangebreasted sunbird (Anthobaphes violacea), the only nectar-feeding bird almost exclusively associated with Erica species (Rebelo et al 1984(Rebelo et al , 1985Schumann et al 1992;Geerts & Pauw 2009b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Easy technique for assessing pollination rates in the genus Erica reveals road impact on bird pollination in the Cape fynbos, South Africa

Geerts

Pauw

2010

Austral Ecology

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Road traffic is one of the most pervasive forms of anthropogenic disturbance, but its impact on pollination, a potentially sensitive ecosystem process, has not been investigated. Such an assessment is needed in order to evaluate the potential for roadside verges to act as biodiversity refugia and corridors in otherwise transformed landscapes. Here, we document the impact of a two-lane tar road on pollination by birds in the Cape fynbos of South Africa. To do so, we developed a quick and widely applicable method of determining pollination rates in bird-pollinated members of the large genus Erica. Experiments with caged birds showed that the status of the anther ring (broken/perfect) indicated a sunbird visit with 92% accuracy, while field surveys confirmed anther ring status also serves as a proxy for pollen receipt to stigmas. Using this technique we determined pollination rate in Erica perspicua at three distances from the road (0-10, 20-30 and 40-50 m). After controlling for flower colour, robbing rate and plant density, significantly fewer anther rings were disturbed in close proximity to the road. The documented twofold decline in pollination along roadsides could have important implications for the way we view and manage road verges as refugia for species and ecological processes.

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Avian pollinators and the pollination syndromes of selected Mountain Fynbos plants

Cited by 53 publications

References 21 publications

Influence of Flower Characteristics, Weather, Time of Day, and Season on Insect Visitation Rates in Three Plant Communities

Influence of Flower Characteristics, Weather, Time of Day, and Season on Insect Visitation Rates in Three Plant Communities

Modularity and evolution of flower shape: the role of function, development, and spandrels inErica

Easy technique for assessing pollination rates in the genus Erica reveals road impact on bird pollination in the Cape fynbos, South Africa

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