Waiting for wasps: consequences for the pollination dynamics of <i>Ficus pertusa</i> L.

Anstett, Marie‐Charlotte; Kjellberg, Finn; Bronstein, Judith L.

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2699.1996.tb00007.x

Cited by 31 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…The diameter of Ficus semicordata syconia gradually increases with syconium age throughout the period of receptivity, which means that larger receptive figs are also older and of lower quality to foundresses. This contrasts with the situation in Ficus hispida and Ficus pertusa, where attractiveness first increases with diameter and then decreases, and larger syconia attracted more pollinators than smaller syconia (Patel et al 1995;Anstett et al 1996). Taken together, the differences recorded between different Ficus species suggest that reproductive traits associated with floral longevity in the genus are adaptive and have been subject to natural selection.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 78%

Costs of inflorescence longevity for an Asian fig tree and its pollinator

et al. 2011

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In ecological situations where interactions between two species are to their mutual benefit, traits are expected to evolve to maximise the value of the timing of their encounters. Plants that depend on animals for pollination vary in the longevity of their flowers and also in how the quality of the rewards they offer varies in flowers of different ages. However, costs of floral longevity are rarely studied. Using field experiments with Ficus semicordata, a SE Asian dioecious fig tree, we examined sexual differences in syconium ageing, how the reproductive success of the plant and its pollinator change with syconium age and whether these changes are reflected in pollinator preferences. Un-pollinated syconia remained receptive to their host-specific pollinators for long periods, but eventually abort. Compared with male syconia, un-pollinated female syconia aborted more quickly and lost their ability to attract pollinators more quickly. Older pollinated female syconia were also more likely to abort. Further, declines in productivity with syconium age were also more apparent in female syconia, though older male syconia also produced fewer, smaller wasp offspring. The longevity costs are reflected in pollinator preferences. This suggests that sexual differences in duration of receptivity may be adaptive and a component of the reproductive strategies. It also indicates that placing fig wasps onto older syconia over-estimates their likelihood of being pollinated under natural conditions and prolonged receptivity increases the likelihood of pollination at the cost of reduced productivity with syconium age. This opens interesting perspectives on the co-evolution of this inter-specific interaction.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 78%

Costs of inflorescence longevity for an Asian fig tree and its pollinator

et al. 2011

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“…Similar results have been described in other Ficus species [21,26]. Ostioles are usually described as opening at the beginning of the receptive phase and closing rapidly at the end, once pollinators have entered [17,30,45,46]. Our results suggest that ostiole closure in un-pollinated figs is an incremental and slower change associated with a decline in attractant volatiles released by the figs and increasing difficulties for pollinators that try to enter.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Larger Fig Wasps Are More Careful About Which Figs to Enter – With Good Reason

Liu

Yang²,

Compton³

et al. 2013

PLoS ONE

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Floral longevity reflects a balance between gains in pollinator visitation and the costs of flower maintenance. Because rewards to pollinators change over time, older flowers may be less attractive, reducing the value of extended longevity. Un-pollinated figs, the inflorescences of Ficus species, can remain receptive for long periods, but figs that are older when entered by their host-specific fig wasp pollinators produce fewer seeds and fig wasp offspring. Our field experiments with Ficus hispida , a dioecious fig tree, examined how the length of time that receptive figs have remained un-pollinated influences the behaviour and reproductive success of its short-lived fig wasp pollinator, Ceratosolensolmsi marchali. The results were consistent in three different seasons, and on male and female trees, although receptivity was greatly extended during colder months. Pollinators took longer to find the ostioles of older figs, and longer to penetrate them. They also became increasingly unwilling to enter figs as they aged, and increasing numbers of the wasps became trapped in the ostiolar bracts. Larger individuals were particularly unwilling to enter older figs, resulting in older figs being pollinated by smaller wasps. On female trees, where figs produce only seeds, seed production declined rapidly with fig age. On male trees, the numbers and size of fig wasp offspring declined, and a higher proportion were male. Older male figs are harder to enter, especially for larger individuals, and offer poorer quality oviposition opportunities. This study opens an interesting new perspective on the coevolution of figs and their pollinators, especially factors influencing pollinator body size and emphasises the subtleties of interactions between mutualists.

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“…defined CPS 50 as the number of fig trees necessary to maintain a wasp population for 5 years with a probability of 0.5, and estimated that it was 89 for F. natalensis. Individuals in several fig species are known to prolong the receptive phase and wait for wasps when there are no available wasps (Khadari et al 1995;Anstett et al 1996). When this fact was built into the model and fig trees waited for wasps up to 3 weeks, CPS 50 decreased to 50 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Persistence of a fig wasp population and evolution of dioecy in figs: a simulation study

1999

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The relationship between fig trees and their pollinator wasps is a well-known example of species-specific obligate mutualism. In this article we present a stochastic model of this mutualistic system, referring to data on a dioecious fig (Ficus schwarzii) in Borneo, and examine the conditions for the persistence of a wasp population for a given period. (1) When the average duration of the flowering interval of fig trees is short, even a small fig population can sustain a wasp population successfully. A population whose average period of flowering cycle is half that of another population can sustain a wasp population with a number of trees less than half of the other population. (2) The wasp survival rate (WSR) is higher when (a) the variation of the interval periods of fig flowering is smaller, (b) the fig population size is larger, and (c) figs can prolong their receptivity to wait for a wasp if no wasps are available. (3) WSR is predictable from the average proportion of the fig's receptive phases, in which wasps are available, to their total receptive phases. (4) The persistence period of a wasp population increases exponentially with the number of fig trees. Based on these results we propose a new hypothesis, as a possible scenario, on the evolution of dioecy from monoecy in Ficus.

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Waiting for wasps: consequences for the pollination dynamics of Ficus pertusa L.

Cited by 31 publications

References 23 publications

Costs of inflorescence longevity for an Asian fig tree and its pollinator

Costs of inflorescence longevity for an Asian fig tree and its pollinator

Larger Fig Wasps Are More Careful About Which Figs to Enter – With Good Reason

Persistence of a fig wasp population and evolution of dioecy in figs: a simulation study

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