Floral trait variation across individual plants within a population enhances defense capability to nectar robbing
Floral trait variation may help pollinators and nectar robbers identify their target plants and, thus, lead to differential selection pressure for defense capability against floral antagonists. However, the effect of floral trait variation among individuals within a population on multi-dimensional p...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.
2023-05-01
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| Series: | Plant Diversity |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468265922001081 |
| _version_ | 1797801738948837376 |
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| author | Shuang Tie Yong-Deng He Amparo Lázaro David W. Inouye You-Hao Guo Chun-Feng Yang |
| author_facet | Shuang Tie Yong-Deng He Amparo Lázaro David W. Inouye You-Hao Guo Chun-Feng Yang |
| author_sort | Shuang Tie |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Floral trait variation may help pollinators and nectar robbers identify their target plants and, thus, lead to differential selection pressure for defense capability against floral antagonists. However, the effect of floral trait variation among individuals within a population on multi-dimensional plant-animal interactions has been little explored. We investigated floral trait variation, pollination, and nectar robbing among individual plants in a population of the bumble bee-pollinated plant, Caryopteris divaricata, from which flowers are also robbed by bumble bees with varying intensity across individuals. We measured the variation in corolla tube length, nectar volume and sugar concentration among individual plants, and evaluated whether the variation were recognized by pollinators and robbers. We investigated the influence of nectar robbing on legitimate visitation and seed production per fruit. We found that the primary nectar robber (Bombus nobilis) preferred to forage on plants with long-tubed flowers, which produced less nectar and had lower sugar concentration compared to those with shorter corolla tubes. Individuals with shorter corolla tubes had comparatively lower nectar robbing intensity but higher visitation by legitimate visitors (mainly B. picipes) and higher seed production. Nectar robbing significantly reduced seed production because it decreased pollinator visits. However, neither pollination nor seed production differed between plants with long and short corolla tubes when nectar robbers were excluded. This finding suggests that floral trait variation might not be driven by pollinators. Such variation among individual plants thus allows legitimate visitors and nectar robbers to segregate niches and enhances population defense against nectar robbing in unpredictable conditions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T04:55:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e5afba33ee8e4fd8838a2b521e5904e5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2468-2659 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T04:55:03Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Plant Diversity |
| spelling | doaj.art-e5afba33ee8e4fd8838a2b521e5904e52023-06-18T05:03:06ZengKeAi Communications Co., Ltd.Plant Diversity2468-26592023-05-01453315325Floral trait variation across individual plants within a population enhances defense capability to nectar robbingShuang Tie0Yong-Deng He1Amparo Lázaro2David W. Inouye3You-Hao Guo4Chun-Feng Yang5College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, ChinaCAS Key Laboratory of Aquatic Botany and Watershed Ecology, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430074, China; Center of Conservation Biology, Core Botanical Gardens, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430074, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, ChinaGlobal Change Research Group, Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (IMEDEA; UIB-CSIC), Esporles, Balearic Islands, SpainThe Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Post Office Box 519, Crested Butte, CO 81224, USA; Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USACollege of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China; Corresponding author.CAS Key Laboratory of Aquatic Botany and Watershed Ecology, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430074, China; Center of Conservation Biology, Core Botanical Gardens, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430074, China; Corresponding author. CAS Key Laboratory of Aquatic Botany and Watershed Ecology, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430074, China.Floral trait variation may help pollinators and nectar robbers identify their target plants and, thus, lead to differential selection pressure for defense capability against floral antagonists. However, the effect of floral trait variation among individuals within a population on multi-dimensional plant-animal interactions has been little explored. We investigated floral trait variation, pollination, and nectar robbing among individual plants in a population of the bumble bee-pollinated plant, Caryopteris divaricata, from which flowers are also robbed by bumble bees with varying intensity across individuals. We measured the variation in corolla tube length, nectar volume and sugar concentration among individual plants, and evaluated whether the variation were recognized by pollinators and robbers. We investigated the influence of nectar robbing on legitimate visitation and seed production per fruit. We found that the primary nectar robber (Bombus nobilis) preferred to forage on plants with long-tubed flowers, which produced less nectar and had lower sugar concentration compared to those with shorter corolla tubes. Individuals with shorter corolla tubes had comparatively lower nectar robbing intensity but higher visitation by legitimate visitors (mainly B. picipes) and higher seed production. Nectar robbing significantly reduced seed production because it decreased pollinator visits. However, neither pollination nor seed production differed between plants with long and short corolla tubes when nectar robbers were excluded. This finding suggests that floral trait variation might not be driven by pollinators. Such variation among individual plants thus allows legitimate visitors and nectar robbers to segregate niches and enhances population defense against nectar robbing in unpredictable conditions.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468265922001081Bumble beesCaryopteris divaricataCorolla tubeIntraspecific variationPlant reproductive successPollination |
| spellingShingle | Shuang Tie Yong-Deng He Amparo Lázaro David W. Inouye You-Hao Guo Chun-Feng Yang Floral trait variation across individual plants within a population enhances defense capability to nectar robbing Plant Diversity Bumble bees Caryopteris divaricata Corolla tube Intraspecific variation Plant reproductive success Pollination |
| title | Floral trait variation across individual plants within a population enhances defense capability to nectar robbing |
| title_full | Floral trait variation across individual plants within a population enhances defense capability to nectar robbing |
| title_fullStr | Floral trait variation across individual plants within a population enhances defense capability to nectar robbing |
| title_full_unstemmed | Floral trait variation across individual plants within a population enhances defense capability to nectar robbing |
| title_short | Floral trait variation across individual plants within a population enhances defense capability to nectar robbing |
| title_sort | floral trait variation across individual plants within a population enhances defense capability to nectar robbing |
| topic | Bumble bees Caryopteris divaricata Corolla tube Intraspecific variation Plant reproductive success Pollination |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468265922001081 |
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