Differences in Nectar Traits between Ornithophilous and Entomophilous Plants on Mount Cameroon
Despite a growing number of studies, the role of pollinators as a selection agent for nectar traits remains unclear. Moreover, the lack of data from some biogeographic regions prohibits us from determining their general importance and global patterns. We analyzed nectar carbohydrate traits and deter...
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MDPI AG
2021-06-01
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| Series: | Plants |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/10/6/1161 |
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| author | Štěpán Janeček Kryštof Chmel Francis Luma Ewome Karolína Hrubá Yannick Klomberg Ishmeal N. Kobe Raissa Dywou Kouede Jan E. J. Mertens Marcus Mokake Njie Robert Tropek |
| author_facet | Štěpán Janeček Kryštof Chmel Francis Luma Ewome Karolína Hrubá Yannick Klomberg Ishmeal N. Kobe Raissa Dywou Kouede Jan E. J. Mertens Marcus Mokake Njie Robert Tropek |
| author_sort | Štěpán Janeček |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Despite a growing number of studies, the role of pollinators as a selection agent for nectar traits remains unclear. Moreover, the lack of data from some biogeographic regions prohibits us from determining their general importance and global patterns. We analyzed nectar carbohydrate traits and determined the main pollinators of 66 plant species in the tropical forests of Mount Cameroon (tropical West Africa). The measured nectar traits included total sugar amounts and proportions of sucrose and hexoses (i.e., glucose and fructose). We report the nectar properties for plants visited by five pollinator groups (bees, butterflies, moths, hoverflies, and specialized birds). Our results indicate that, rather than specific evolution in each of the five plant groups, there was a unique nectar-trait evolution in plants pollinated by specialized birds. The ornithophilous plants had a higher proportion of sucrose and produced larger sugar amounts than the plants pollinated by insects. We also demonstrated a significant phylogenetic signal in the nectar properties in some lineages of the studied plants. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T10:37:59Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-593f5abd48264e60ab7a8c59c92cc1a8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2223-7747 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T10:37:59Z |
| publishDate | 2021-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Plants |
| spelling | doaj.art-593f5abd48264e60ab7a8c59c92cc1a82023-11-21T23:11:14ZengMDPI AGPlants2223-77472021-06-01106116110.3390/plants10061161Differences in Nectar Traits between Ornithophilous and Entomophilous Plants on Mount CameroonŠtěpán Janeček0Kryštof Chmel1Francis Luma Ewome2Karolína Hrubá3Yannick Klomberg4Ishmeal N. Kobe5Raissa Dywou Kouede6Jan E. J. Mertens7Marcus Mokake Njie8Robert Tropek9Department of Ecology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Viničná 7, CZ-128 44 Prague 2, Czech RepublicDepartment of Ecology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Viničná 7, CZ-128 44 Prague 2, Czech RepublicBokwango, Buea, Southwest Region, CameroonBiology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, Branišovská 31, CZ-370 05 České Budějovice, Czech RepublicDepartment of Ecology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Viničná 7, CZ-128 44 Prague 2, Czech RepublicDepartment of Ecology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Viničná 7, CZ-128 44 Prague 2, Czech RepublicDepartment of Nursing, Faculty of Health Science, Herzing University, 1865 SR 436, Winter Park, Orlando, FL 32792, USADepartment of Ecology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Viničná 7, CZ-128 44 Prague 2, Czech RepublicDepartment of Zoology and Animal Physiology, Faculty of Science, University of Buea, Buea 63, CameroonDepartment of Ecology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Viničná 7, CZ-128 44 Prague 2, Czech RepublicDespite a growing number of studies, the role of pollinators as a selection agent for nectar traits remains unclear. Moreover, the lack of data from some biogeographic regions prohibits us from determining their general importance and global patterns. We analyzed nectar carbohydrate traits and determined the main pollinators of 66 plant species in the tropical forests of Mount Cameroon (tropical West Africa). The measured nectar traits included total sugar amounts and proportions of sucrose and hexoses (i.e., glucose and fructose). We report the nectar properties for plants visited by five pollinator groups (bees, butterflies, moths, hoverflies, and specialized birds). Our results indicate that, rather than specific evolution in each of the five plant groups, there was a unique nectar-trait evolution in plants pollinated by specialized birds. The ornithophilous plants had a higher proportion of sucrose and produced larger sugar amounts than the plants pollinated by insects. We also demonstrated a significant phylogenetic signal in the nectar properties in some lineages of the studied plants.https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/10/6/1161Afrotropicsfructoseglucoseinsectnectarphylogenetic signal |
| spellingShingle | Štěpán Janeček Kryštof Chmel Francis Luma Ewome Karolína Hrubá Yannick Klomberg Ishmeal N. Kobe Raissa Dywou Kouede Jan E. J. Mertens Marcus Mokake Njie Robert Tropek Differences in Nectar Traits between Ornithophilous and Entomophilous Plants on Mount Cameroon Plants Afrotropics fructose glucose insect nectar phylogenetic signal |
| title | Differences in Nectar Traits between Ornithophilous and Entomophilous Plants on Mount Cameroon |
| title_full | Differences in Nectar Traits between Ornithophilous and Entomophilous Plants on Mount Cameroon |
| title_fullStr | Differences in Nectar Traits between Ornithophilous and Entomophilous Plants on Mount Cameroon |
| title_full_unstemmed | Differences in Nectar Traits between Ornithophilous and Entomophilous Plants on Mount Cameroon |
| title_short | Differences in Nectar Traits between Ornithophilous and Entomophilous Plants on Mount Cameroon |
| title_sort | differences in nectar traits between ornithophilous and entomophilous plants on mount cameroon |
| topic | Afrotropics fructose glucose insect nectar phylogenetic signal |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/10/6/1161 |
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