Heliconia acuminata reproductive success is independent of local floral density

Detalhes bibliográficos
Autor(a) principal: Bruna,Emilio M.
Data de Publicação: 2004
Outros Autores: Kress,W. John, Marques,Francisco, Silva,Osmaildo Ferreira da
Tipo de documento: Artigo
Idioma: eng
Título da fonte: Acta Amazonica
Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0044-59672004000300012
Resumo: Reproductive plants in tropical forests are patchily distributed, with some in large aggregations of reproductive consepecifics while others are relatively isolated. This variation in floral density is hypothesized to have a major effect on plant reproductive success, since individuals in higher density neighborhoods can attract more or higher quality pollinators. We experimentally tested this hypothesis with populations of the understory herb Heliconia acuminata in central Amazonia. We created replicated plots in which reproductive plant density spanned the range of naturally occurring floral neighborhood size, then measured three surrogates of plant fitness in focal plants in each array. There was no significant difference between any of the three floral neighborhood treatments in total seed production, fruit set, or the number of seeds produced per fruit. Pollinator visitation rates to plants in all treatments were extremely low, with many plants not visited at all during the observation period. This could be because H. acuminata's hummingbird pollinators are unable to find the widely scattered reproductive plants, however this hypothesis appears unlikely. Instead, natural flowering plant densities may simply be below the threshold value at which neighborhood effects become important, even in "high-density" aggregations. Nutrient limitation, selective fruit abortion, and reproduction via male rather than female function may also be playing a role. We argue the absence of neighborhood effects may be a general phenomenon in central Amazonian forests, though additional experiments with other plant-pollinator systems are needed to determine the extent to which this hypothesis is supported.
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spelling Heliconia acuminata reproductive success is independent of local floral densityPhaethornisresource limitationpollinator limitationtransplantsReproductive plants in tropical forests are patchily distributed, with some in large aggregations of reproductive consepecifics while others are relatively isolated. This variation in floral density is hypothesized to have a major effect on plant reproductive success, since individuals in higher density neighborhoods can attract more or higher quality pollinators. We experimentally tested this hypothesis with populations of the understory herb Heliconia acuminata in central Amazonia. We created replicated plots in which reproductive plant density spanned the range of naturally occurring floral neighborhood size, then measured three surrogates of plant fitness in focal plants in each array. There was no significant difference between any of the three floral neighborhood treatments in total seed production, fruit set, or the number of seeds produced per fruit. Pollinator visitation rates to plants in all treatments were extremely low, with many plants not visited at all during the observation period. This could be because H. acuminata's hummingbird pollinators are unable to find the widely scattered reproductive plants, however this hypothesis appears unlikely. Instead, natural flowering plant densities may simply be below the threshold value at which neighborhood effects become important, even in "high-density" aggregations. Nutrient limitation, selective fruit abortion, and reproduction via male rather than female function may also be playing a role. We argue the absence of neighborhood effects may be a general phenomenon in central Amazonian forests, though additional experiments with other plant-pollinator systems are needed to determine the extent to which this hypothesis is supported.Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia2004-09-01info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersiontext/htmlhttp://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0044-59672004000300012Acta Amazonica v.34 n.3 2004reponame:Acta Amazonicainstname:Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA)instacron:INPA10.1590/S0044-59672004000300012info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessBruna,Emilio M.Kress,W. JohnMarques,FranciscoSilva,Osmaildo Ferreira daeng2004-11-30T00:00:00Zoai:scielo:S0044-59672004000300012Revistahttps://acta.inpa.gov.br/PUBhttps://old.scielo.br/oai/scielo-oai.phpacta@inpa.gov.br||acta@inpa.gov.br1809-43920044-5967opendoar:2004-11-30T00:00Acta Amazonica - Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA)false
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Heliconia acuminata reproductive success is independent of local floral density
title Heliconia acuminata reproductive success is independent of local floral density
spellingShingle Heliconia acuminata reproductive success is independent of local floral density
Bruna,Emilio M.
Phaethornis
resource limitation
pollinator limitation
transplants
title_short Heliconia acuminata reproductive success is independent of local floral density
title_full Heliconia acuminata reproductive success is independent of local floral density
title_fullStr Heliconia acuminata reproductive success is independent of local floral density
title_full_unstemmed Heliconia acuminata reproductive success is independent of local floral density
title_sort Heliconia acuminata reproductive success is independent of local floral density
author Bruna,Emilio M.
author_facet Bruna,Emilio M.
Kress,W. John
Marques,Francisco
Silva,Osmaildo Ferreira da
author_role author
author2 Kress,W. John
Marques,Francisco
Silva,Osmaildo Ferreira da
author2_role author
author
author
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv Bruna,Emilio M.
Kress,W. John
Marques,Francisco
Silva,Osmaildo Ferreira da
dc.subject.por.fl_str_mv Phaethornis
resource limitation
pollinator limitation
transplants
topic Phaethornis
resource limitation
pollinator limitation
transplants
description Reproductive plants in tropical forests are patchily distributed, with some in large aggregations of reproductive consepecifics while others are relatively isolated. This variation in floral density is hypothesized to have a major effect on plant reproductive success, since individuals in higher density neighborhoods can attract more or higher quality pollinators. We experimentally tested this hypothesis with populations of the understory herb Heliconia acuminata in central Amazonia. We created replicated plots in which reproductive plant density spanned the range of naturally occurring floral neighborhood size, then measured three surrogates of plant fitness in focal plants in each array. There was no significant difference between any of the three floral neighborhood treatments in total seed production, fruit set, or the number of seeds produced per fruit. Pollinator visitation rates to plants in all treatments were extremely low, with many plants not visited at all during the observation period. This could be because H. acuminata's hummingbird pollinators are unable to find the widely scattered reproductive plants, however this hypothesis appears unlikely. Instead, natural flowering plant densities may simply be below the threshold value at which neighborhood effects become important, even in "high-density" aggregations. Nutrient limitation, selective fruit abortion, and reproduction via male rather than female function may also be playing a role. We argue the absence of neighborhood effects may be a general phenomenon in central Amazonian forests, though additional experiments with other plant-pollinator systems are needed to determine the extent to which this hypothesis is supported.
publishDate 2004
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2004-09-01
dc.type.driver.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
dc.type.status.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
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status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.uri.fl_str_mv http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0044-59672004000300012
url http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0044-59672004000300012
dc.language.iso.fl_str_mv eng
language eng
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv 10.1590/S0044-59672004000300012
dc.rights.driver.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv text/html
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv Acta Amazonica v.34 n.3 2004
reponame:Acta Amazonica
instname:Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA)
instacron:INPA
instname_str Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA)
instacron_str INPA
institution INPA
reponame_str Acta Amazonica
collection Acta Amazonica
repository.name.fl_str_mv Acta Amazonica - Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA)
repository.mail.fl_str_mv acta@inpa.gov.br||acta@inpa.gov.br
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