Differences in pollination success between local and foreign flower color phenotypes: a translocation experiment with Gentiana lutea (Gentianaceae)
Background The adaptive maintenance of flower color variation is frequently attributed to pollinators partly because they preferentially visit certain flower phenotypes. We tested whether Gentiana lutea—which shows a flower color variation (from orange to yellow) in the Cantabrian Mountains range (n...
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PeerJ Inc.
2017-02-01
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| author | Javier A. Guitián Mar Sobral Tania Veiga María Losada Pablo Guitián José M. Guitián |
| author_facet | Javier A. Guitián Mar Sobral Tania Veiga María Losada Pablo Guitián José M. Guitián |
| author_sort | Javier A. Guitián |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background The adaptive maintenance of flower color variation is frequently attributed to pollinators partly because they preferentially visit certain flower phenotypes. We tested whether Gentiana lutea—which shows a flower color variation (from orange to yellow) in the Cantabrian Mountains range (north of Spain)—is locally adapted to the pollinator community. Methods We transplanted orange-flowering individuals to a population with yellow-flowering individuals and vice versa, in order to assess whether there is a pollination advantage in the local morph by comparing its visitation rate with the foreign morph. Results Our reciprocal transplant experiment did not show clear local morph advantage in overall visitation rate: local orange flowers received more visits than foreign yellow flowers in the orange population, while both local and foreign flowers received the same visits in the yellow population; thus, there is no evidence of local adaptation in Gentiana lutea to the pollinator assemblage. However, some floral visitor groups (such as Bombus pratorum, B. soroensis ancaricus and B. lapidarius decipiens) consistently preferred the local morph to the foreign morph whereas others (such as Bombus terrestris) consistently preferred the foreign morph. Discussion We concluded that there is no evidence of local adaptation to the pollinator community in each of the two G. lutea populations studied. The consequences for local adaptation to pollinator on G. lutea flower color would depend on the variation along the Cantabrian Mountains range in morph frequency and pollinator community composition. |
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| issn | 2167-8359 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:43:42Z |
| publishDate | 2017-02-01 |
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| spelling | doaj.art-c262f6ae17ae4487a4efd56c9129ca6d2023-12-03T10:42:24ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592017-02-015e288210.7717/peerj.2882Differences in pollination success between local and foreign flower color phenotypes: a translocation experiment with Gentiana lutea (Gentianaceae)Javier A. Guitián0Mar Sobral1Tania Veiga2María Losada3Pablo Guitián4José M. Guitián5Departamento de Botánica/Facultade de Bioloxía, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, A Coruña, SpainDepartamento de Bioloxía Celular e Ecoloxía/Facultade de Bioloxía, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, A Coruña, SpainDepartamento de Botánica/Facultade de Bioloxía, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, A Coruña, SpainDepartamento de Bioloxía Celular e Ecoloxía/Facultade de Bioloxía, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, A Coruña, SpainDepartamento de Botánica/Facultade de Bioloxía, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, A Coruña, SpainDepartamento de Bioloxía Celular e Ecoloxía/Facultade de Bioloxía, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, A Coruña, SpainBackground The adaptive maintenance of flower color variation is frequently attributed to pollinators partly because they preferentially visit certain flower phenotypes. We tested whether Gentiana lutea—which shows a flower color variation (from orange to yellow) in the Cantabrian Mountains range (north of Spain)—is locally adapted to the pollinator community. Methods We transplanted orange-flowering individuals to a population with yellow-flowering individuals and vice versa, in order to assess whether there is a pollination advantage in the local morph by comparing its visitation rate with the foreign morph. Results Our reciprocal transplant experiment did not show clear local morph advantage in overall visitation rate: local orange flowers received more visits than foreign yellow flowers in the orange population, while both local and foreign flowers received the same visits in the yellow population; thus, there is no evidence of local adaptation in Gentiana lutea to the pollinator assemblage. However, some floral visitor groups (such as Bombus pratorum, B. soroensis ancaricus and B. lapidarius decipiens) consistently preferred the local morph to the foreign morph whereas others (such as Bombus terrestris) consistently preferred the foreign morph. Discussion We concluded that there is no evidence of local adaptation to the pollinator community in each of the two G. lutea populations studied. The consequences for local adaptation to pollinator on G. lutea flower color would depend on the variation along the Cantabrian Mountains range in morph frequency and pollinator community composition.https://peerj.com/articles/2882.pdfFlower color variationLocal adaptationPollinator preferencesReciprocal transplantsGentiana lutea |
| spellingShingle | Javier A. Guitián Mar Sobral Tania Veiga María Losada Pablo Guitián José M. Guitián Differences in pollination success between local and foreign flower color phenotypes: a translocation experiment with Gentiana lutea (Gentianaceae) PeerJ Flower color variation Local adaptation Pollinator preferences Reciprocal transplants Gentiana lutea |
| title | Differences in pollination success between local and foreign flower color phenotypes: a translocation experiment with Gentiana lutea (Gentianaceae) |
| title_full | Differences in pollination success between local and foreign flower color phenotypes: a translocation experiment with Gentiana lutea (Gentianaceae) |
| title_fullStr | Differences in pollination success between local and foreign flower color phenotypes: a translocation experiment with Gentiana lutea (Gentianaceae) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Differences in pollination success between local and foreign flower color phenotypes: a translocation experiment with Gentiana lutea (Gentianaceae) |
| title_short | Differences in pollination success between local and foreign flower color phenotypes: a translocation experiment with Gentiana lutea (Gentianaceae) |
| title_sort | differences in pollination success between local and foreign flower color phenotypes a translocation experiment with gentiana lutea gentianaceae |
| topic | Flower color variation Local adaptation Pollinator preferences Reciprocal transplants Gentiana lutea |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/2882.pdf |
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