Color signals of bee-pollinated flowers: the significance of natural leaf background

Author(s)

Martins, Amanda E. ^[1] ; Arista, Montserrat ^[2] ; Morellato, Leonor Patricia Cerdeira ^[1] ; Camargo, Maria Gabriela G. ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Sao Paulo State Univ UNESP, Dept Biodivers, Phenol Lab, Biosci Inst, Av 24A, 1515, BR-13506900 Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[2] Univ Seville, Dept Plant Biol & Ecol, Seville 41080 - Spain

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY; v. 108, n. 5, p. 788-797, MAY 2021.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

PREMISE: Flower color is a primary pollinator attractant and generally adjusted to the cognitive system of the pollinators. The perception of flower color depends on the visual system of pollinators and also on environmental factors such as light conditions and the background against which flowers are displayed. METHODS: Using bee-pollinated Fabaceae species as a model, we analyzed flower color diversity and compared flower color signals considering both the standard green and the natural leaf background of two tropical seasonally dry vegetations-a mountain rupestrian grassland (campo rupestre) and a woody savanna (cerrado)-compared to a nontropical Mediterranean shrubland. RESULTS: By using natural background, bees discriminated color for 58% of the flowers in the campo rupestre and for only 43% in cerrado. Both vegetations were surpassed y 75% of bee color discrimination in : Mediterranean vegetation. Chromatic contrast and purity were similar among the three vegetation types. Green contrast and brightness were similar between the tropical vegetations but differed from the Mediterranean shrubland. Green contrast differences were lost when using a standard green background, and most variables (purity, green contrast, and brightness) differed according to the background (natural or standard green) in all vegetations. CONCLUSIONS: The natural background influenced bee perception of flower color regardless of vegetation. The background of the campo rupestre promoted green contrast for flowers, ensuring flower detection by pollinators and, along with bees, may also act as a selective pressure driving the diversity of flower colors in Fabaceae species. We highlight the importance of considering the natural background coloration when analyzing flower color signals. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 18/11985-1 - Floral color and contrast to pollinators in seasonal plant communities: influence of background color and illuminance
• Grantee: Amanda Eburneo Martins
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• FAPESP's process: 17/15152-1 - Seasonal flowers' colours patterns of and the pollination in a Cerrado savanna
• Grantee: Amanda Eburneo Martins
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• FAPESP's process: 15/10754-8 - Spatio-temporal variations in the flower-color spectra according to the pollinators' visual systems
• Grantee: Maria Gabriela Gutierrez de Camargo
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• FAPESP's process: 09/54208-6 - Multi-User Centralized Laboratory at the São Paulo State University Center for Biodiversity Studies
• Grantee: Célio Fernando Baptista Haddad
• Support Opportunities: Multi-user Equipment Program
• FAPESP's process: 10/51307-0 - Floristic diversity and seasonal patterns of rupestrian fields and cerrado
• Grantee: Leonor Patricia Cerdeira Morellato
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Research Partnership for Technological Innovation - PITE
• FAPESP's process: 18/21646-0 - Ecological relationships in time and space: flower signal standardization in congeneric species
• Grantee: Maria Gabriela Gutierrez de Camargo
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor