The role of individual variation in flowering and pollination in the reproductive success of a crepuscular buzz-pollinated plant

Author(s)

Soares, Natalia Costa ^[1] ; Maruyama, Pietro Kiyoshi ^[2] ; Staggemeier, Vanessa Graziele ^{[3, 1]} ; Cerdeira Morellato, Leonor Patricia ^[1] ; Araujo, Marcio Silva ^[4]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Estadual Paulista, Inst Biociencias, Dept Biodiversidade, Lab Fenol, BR-13506900 Rio Claro, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Fed Minas Gerais, Ctr Sintese Ecol & Conservacao, Inst Ciencias Biol, Dept Genet, BR-31270901 Belo Horizonte, MG - Brazil

^[3] Univ Fed Rio Grande do Norte, Ctr Biociencias, Dept Ecol, BR-59078970 Natal, RN - Brazil

^[4] Univ Estadual Paulista, Inst Biociencias, Dept Biodiversidade, BR-13506900 Rio Claro, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: ANNALS OF BOTANY; v. 127, n. 2, p. 213-222, FEB 1 2021.
• Web of Science Citations: 1

Abstract

Background and Aims Plant individuals within a population differ in their phenology and interactions with pollinators. However, it is still unknown how individual differences affect the reproductive success of plants that have functionally specialized pollination systems. Here, we evaluated whether plant individual specialization in phenology (temporal specialization) and in pollination (pollinator specialization) affect the reproductive success of the crepuscular-bee-pollinated plant Trembleya laniflora (Melastomataceae). Methods We quantified flowering activity (amplitude, duration and overlap), plant-pollinator interactions (number of flowers visited by pollinators) and reproductive success (fruit set) of T. laniflora individuals from three distinct locations in rupestrian grasslands of southeastern Brazil. We estimated the degree of individual temporal specialization in flowering phenology and of individual specialization in plant-pollinator interactions, and tested their relationship with plant reproductive success. Key Results Trembleya laniflora presented overlapping flowering, a temporal generalization and specialized pollinator interactions. Flowering overlap among individuals and populations was higher than expected by chance but did not affect the individual interactions with pollinators and nor their reproductive success. In contrast, higher individual generalization in the interactions with pollinators was related to higher individual reproductive success. Conclusions Our findings suggest that individual generalization in plant-pollinator interaction reduces the potential costs of specialization at the species level, ensuring reproductive success. Altogether, our results highlight the complexity of specialization/generalization of plant-pollinator interactions at distinct levels of organization, from individuals to populations, to species. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 14/13899-4 - Phenology and phylogenies as tools to understand the effects of climate changes in the tropics
• Grantee: Vanessa Graziele Staggemeier
• 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: 13/50155-0 - Combining new technologies to monitor phenology from leaves to ecosystems
• Grantee: Leonor Patricia Cerdeira Morellato
• Support Opportunities: Research Program on Global Climate Change - University-Industry Cooperative Research (PITE)
• FAPESP's process: 16/02312-8 - Combining plant distribution and phenology to predict the potential effects of climate change in the tropics
• Grantee: Vanessa Graziele Staggemeier
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor