| Full text | |
| Author(s): |
Total Authors: 2
|
| Affiliation: | [1] Universidade de São Paulo. Instituto de Biociências. Departamento de Ecologia - Brasil
[2] Universidade de São Paulo. Instituto de Biociências. Departamento de Ecologia - Brasil
Total Affiliations: 2
|
| Document type: | Journal article |
| Source: | Rev. bras. Bot.; v. 28, n. 4, p. 785-795, 2005-12-00. |
| Abstract | |
Foraging behavior of pollinators and seed dispersers is related to resource heterogeneity in the environment, making it important to know the spatio-temporal variation of resources in order to understand the mutualistic relationships established between plants and animals. Psychotria suterella flowered from January to April, months with highest annual rainfall, and exhibited high synchronism among the populations in the landscape studied. The flowering pattern found on the category of individuals corresponds to that one found in populations and landscape categories. Fructification occurred all year long, with greater availability of mature fruits in May and December; and synchronism was lower in this phenophase than in flowering. Only intermorph pollinations produced fruits and seeds, indicating that this plant species relies on pollen vectors for sexual reproduction. Since there is no evidence of pollen limitation, we consider that differences in fructification among populations could be related to abiotic factors. The overlap between flowering pattern of Psychotria suterella and Bombus brasiliensis foraging activicty, the fact that B. brasiliensis is the most important pollinator of this plant species, as well as the importance of P. suterella for this bee diet, suggest that selective pressures could be acting between these species, underlying this mutualistic interaction. (AU) | |
| FAPESP's process: | 99/12704-3 - Effects of the matrix in the reproductive biology of Psychotria nuda (Rubiaceae) in forest fragments in the Atlantic Plateau of São Paulo |
| Grantee: | Luciano Elsinor Lopes |
| Support Opportunities: | Scholarships in Brazil - Master |
| FAPESP's process: | 99/05123-4 - Biodiversity conservation in fragmented landscapes at the Atlantic Plateau of São Paulo (Brazil) |
| Grantee: | Jean Paul Walter Metzger |
| Support Opportunities: | BIOTA-FAPESP Program - Thematic Grants |