High visitation rate of oil bees may increase pollination efficiency of Couepia uiti in Pantanal wetland

Abstract

Pollen transfer to the stigma is the primary mechanism of sexual reproduction in plants. Among bee species that act as pollen vectors and pollinators, attributes such as floral visitation rate, synchrony with the receptive phase of the flower, compatibility between flower shape and foraging behavior, and morphological traits are often used to infer pollination efficiency. Herein, we evaluate visitation frequency and behavior of bee species on Couepia uiti (Chrysobalanaceae) flowers in the southern Pantanal, Brazil. Additionally, after experimental manipulation of flower visitation and by accompanying pollen tube growth in the pistil after one single visit to the flowers, we were able to pinpoint the roles of Centris spilopoda and Apis mellifera on the pollination of C. uiti. Centris spilopoda was the most important pollinator of C. uiti in the study area. In fact, we found that this oil bee might enhance plant reproductive success by almost 40% after a single visit. In addition to its high abundance, the efficiency of C. spilopoda as pollinator may be explained by its tight synchrony with pollen liberation and stigmatic receptivity of flowers of C. uiti.

Environmental Display Can Buffer the Effect of Pesticides on Solitary Bees

“…In open sites, ability to find flowers depends on the mobility of pollinators, which has been hypothesized to determine the ratio of pollination success [ 62 ] and, therefore, increase plant genetic diversity [ 63 ]. This occurs because several wild and crop plant species rely on cross pollination, i.e., depend on pollen grains that originate from other, non-parental individuals for seed and fruit production.…”

“…Linkage density, the ratio between the number of individuals and the number of links observed between individual bees, provided the mean links per bee in the networks. At field level, enhancing the number of flowers has been shown to increase visitation rate and success in pollination by solitary bees probably due to flower exploitation, a prerequisite for reproduction in cross pollinated plant species [ 62 ]. In a network context, a positive association between increased linkage density and pollination was also found [ 7 , 72 ].…”

Fruit production in coffee (Coffea arabica L.) crops is enhanced by the behaviour of wild bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

“…botrytis L.) due to their preferences for hermaphrodite flowers and their high nectar thievery. Similarly, Boff et al (2018) reported that a high visitation rate of oil bees increased the pollination efficiency of Couepia uiti (Mart. & Zucc.)…”

Emerging vistas of Remote Sensing Tools in Pollination Studies

“…Bee visitation although an important tool to measure successful pollination, all the flowers visited by the bees does not guarantee pollination. Boff et al (2018) reported that high visitation rate of oil bees increased the pollination efficiency of Couepia uiti in Pantanal wetland. Quantification of pollination needs visual manual data collection which involves physical human movement amidst crop canopy in an ecosystem.…”