{"title":"Does pollination interact with the abiotic environment to affect plant reproduction?","authors":"Isabella B Rodelius, Amy M Iler","doi":"10.1093/aob/mcae095","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and aims: </strong>Abiotic and biotic components of the environment both limit plant reproduction, but how they interact with one another in combination is less understood. Understanding these interactions is especially relevant because abiotic and biotic environmental components respond differently to various drivers of global change. Here, we aim to understand whether the effects of pollination (biotic component) on plant reproduction depend on soil moisture (abiotic component), two factors known to affect plant reproduction and that are changing with global change.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We conducted pollen supplementation experiments for two plant species, Delphinium nuttallianum and Hydrophyllum fendleri, in subalpine meadows in the Western USA across 4 years that varied in soil moisture. In a separate 1-year field experiment, we crossed water addition with pollen supplementation factorially. We measured the proportion of fruit set, seeds per fruit and seeds per plant, in addition to stomatal conductance, to determine whether plant physiology responded to watering.</p><p><strong>Key results: </strong>In the 4-year study, only H. fendleri reproduction was pollen limited, and this occurred independently of soil moisture. Experimental water addition significantly increased soil moisture and stomatal conductance for both species. The effect of pollen addition on reproduction depended on the watering treatment only for H. fendleri fruit production. Reproduction in D. nuttallianum was not significantly affected by pollen addition or water addition, but it did respond to interannual variation in soil moisture.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Although we found some evidence for the effect of a biotic interaction depending on abiotic conditions, it was only for one aspect of reproduction in one species, and it was in an unexpected direction. Our work highlights interactions between the abiotic and biotic components of the environment as an area of further research for improving our understanding of how plant reproduction responds to global change.</p>","PeriodicalId":8023,"journal":{"name":"Annals of botany","volume":" ","pages":"141-152"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6000,"publicationDate":"2025-02-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11805941/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Annals of botany","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcae095","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PLANT SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background and aims: Abiotic and biotic components of the environment both limit plant reproduction, but how they interact with one another in combination is less understood. Understanding these interactions is especially relevant because abiotic and biotic environmental components respond differently to various drivers of global change. Here, we aim to understand whether the effects of pollination (biotic component) on plant reproduction depend on soil moisture (abiotic component), two factors known to affect plant reproduction and that are changing with global change.
Methods: We conducted pollen supplementation experiments for two plant species, Delphinium nuttallianum and Hydrophyllum fendleri, in subalpine meadows in the Western USA across 4 years that varied in soil moisture. In a separate 1-year field experiment, we crossed water addition with pollen supplementation factorially. We measured the proportion of fruit set, seeds per fruit and seeds per plant, in addition to stomatal conductance, to determine whether plant physiology responded to watering.
Key results: In the 4-year study, only H. fendleri reproduction was pollen limited, and this occurred independently of soil moisture. Experimental water addition significantly increased soil moisture and stomatal conductance for both species. The effect of pollen addition on reproduction depended on the watering treatment only for H. fendleri fruit production. Reproduction in D. nuttallianum was not significantly affected by pollen addition or water addition, but it did respond to interannual variation in soil moisture.
Conclusions: Although we found some evidence for the effect of a biotic interaction depending on abiotic conditions, it was only for one aspect of reproduction in one species, and it was in an unexpected direction. Our work highlights interactions between the abiotic and biotic components of the environment as an area of further research for improving our understanding of how plant reproduction responds to global change.
期刊介绍：
Annals of Botany is an international plant science journal publishing novel and rigorous research in all areas of plant science. It is published monthly in both electronic and printed forms with at least two extra issues each year that focus on a particular theme in plant biology. The Journal is managed by the Annals of Botany Company, a not-for-profit educational charity established to promote plant science worldwide.
The Journal publishes original research papers, invited and submitted review articles, ''Research in Context'' expanding on original work, ''Botanical Briefings'' as short overviews of important topics, and ''Viewpoints'' giving opinions. All papers in each issue are summarized briefly in Content Snapshots , there are topical news items in the Plant Cuttings section and Book Reviews . A rigorous review process ensures that readers are exposed to genuine and novel advances across a wide spectrum of botanical knowledge. All papers aim to advance knowledge and make a difference to our understanding of plant science.
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
京公网安备 11010802042870号
