Natural history of pollination of an Asian bignoniaceous tree: The long-tubed flower and the not-so-long bird bill

IF 1.7 4区 生物学 Q3 ECOLOGY
Flora Pub Date : 2024-03-20 DOI:10.1016/j.flora.2024.152481
Qiong-Yue Liang , Yun-Bo Duan , Chang-Qiu Liu , Zhe Chen , Qiang-Bang Gong , Yan-Qiong Peng
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Abstract

Bird pollination is well-established in New World Bignoniaceae, but studies of species with floral traits suggestive of bird pollination in the Old World are lacking. Here we studied the pollination ecology of Mayodendron igneum to test the prediction of pollination by specialist flower-visiting birds. Observations from multiple sites showed that both the Streaked Spiderhunter (Arachnothera magna) and pollen-collecting bees were floral visitors. However, almost no fruit was produced if birds were excluded, suggesting that bees do not play a role in pollination, and that pollination is performed almost exclusively by birds in this self-incompatible tree. Measurements of floral traits revealed a typical bird pollination syndrome, and the nectar concentration and volume were both within the proposed ranges based on other flowers pollinated by specialist birds. However, the rather low level of sucrose (less than 2 %) in nectar sugar contradicts the expectation for nectar of flowers pollinated by specialist nectar-feeding birds. Although the Streaked Spiderhunter is among the longest-billed flower-visiting birds in Asia, its bill is only 2/3 of the corolla tube in length, suggesting that the bird can extend the tongue to access nectar. This study is the first to experimentally confirm bird pollination in the Old World Bignoniaceae. It also indicates aspects that are possibly characteristic of spiderhunter pollination systems, i.e. high degrees of specialization, unusual nectar sugar composition, and floral tubes much longer than bird bills.

一种亚洲双子叶植物授粉的自然历史:长管花和不长的鸟喙
鸟类授粉在新大陆的木犀科植物中已得到广泛认可,但对旧大陆具有鸟类授粉特征的物种却缺乏研究。在这里,我们研究了Mayodendron igneum的授粉生态学,以验证专门访花鸟类授粉的预测。多个地点的观察结果表明,匍匐蜘蛛猎手(Arachnothera magna)和采花粉的蜜蜂都是花的访客。然而,如果排除鸟类,则几乎不会结出果实,这表明蜜蜂在授粉过程中不起作用,在这种自交不亲和的树上,授粉几乎完全由鸟类完成。对花朵特征的测量显示了典型的鸟类授粉综合征,花蜜浓度和花蜜量都在由专门鸟类授粉的其他花朵所建议的范围内。然而,花蜜中的蔗糖含量相当低(低于 2%),这与人们对专食花蜜的鸟类授粉花蜜的期望值相悖。虽然条纹猎蛛蛛是亚洲嘴最长的访花鸟类之一,但其喙的长度仅为花冠管的三分之二,这表明鸟类可以伸出舌头取蜜。这项研究首次通过实验证实了鸟类在旧大陆木犀科植物中的授粉作用。它还表明了蜘蛛猎手授粉系统可能具有的特征,即高度专业化、不寻常的花蜜糖成分以及比鸟类喙长很多的花管。
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来源期刊
Flora
Flora 生物-植物科学
CiteScore
3.30
自引率
10.50%
发文量
130
审稿时长
54 days
期刊介绍: FLORA publishes original contributions and review articles on plant structure (morphology and anatomy), plant distribution (incl. phylogeography) and plant functional ecology (ecophysiology, population ecology and population genetics, organismic interactions, community ecology, ecosystem ecology). Manuscripts (both original and review articles) on a single topic can be compiled in Special Issues, for which suggestions are welcome. FLORA, the scientific botanical journal with the longest uninterrupted publication sequence (since 1818), considers manuscripts in the above areas which appeal a broad scientific and international readership. Manuscripts focused on floristics and vegetation science will only be considered if they exceed the pure descriptive approach and have relevance for interpreting plant morphology, distribution or ecology. Manuscripts whose content is restricted to purely systematic and nomenclature matters, to geobotanical aspects of only local interest, to pure applications in agri-, horti- or silviculture and pharmacology, and experimental studies dealing exclusively with investigations at the cellular and subcellular level will not be accepted. Manuscripts dealing with comparative and evolutionary aspects of morphology, anatomy and development are welcome.
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