Relative effectiveness of insects versus hummingbirds as pollinators of Rubiaceae plants across elevation in Dominica, Caribbean
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Relative effectiveness of insects versus hummingbirds as pollinators of Rubiaceae plants across elevation in Dominica, Caribbean. / Lehmann, Louise Juhl; Maruyama, P. K.; Bergamo, P. Joaquim; Maglianesi, M. A.; Rahbek, Carsten; Dalsgaard, Bo.
In: Plant Biology, Vol. 21, No. 4, 2019, p. 738-744.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Relative effectiveness of insects versus hummingbirds as pollinators of Rubiaceae plants across elevation in Dominica, Caribbean
AU - Lehmann, Louise Juhl
AU - Maruyama, P. K.
AU - Bergamo, P. Joaquim
AU - Maglianesi, M. A.
AU - Rahbek, Carsten
AU - Dalsgaard, Bo
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - Most angiosperms rely on animal pollination for reproduction, but the dependence on specific pollinator groups varies greatly between species and localities. Notably, such dependence may be influenced by both floral traits and environmental conditions. Despite its importance, their joint contribution has rarely been studied at the assemblage level. At two elevations on the Caribbean island of Dominica, we measured the floral traits and the relative contributions of insects versus hummingbirds as pollinators of plants in the Rubiaceae family. Pollinator importance was measured as visitation rate (VR) and single visit pollen deposition (SVD), which were combined to assess overall pollinator effectiveness (PE). In the wet and cool Dominican highland, we found that hummingbirds were relatively more frequent and effective pollinators than insects, whereas insects and hummingbirds were equally frequent and effective pollinators at the warmer and less rainy midelevation. Furthermore, floral traits correlated independently of environment with the relative importance of pollinators, hummingbirds being more important in plant species having flowers with long and wide corollas producing higher volumes of dilute nectar. Our findings show that both environmental conditions and floral traits influence whether insects or hummingbirds are the most important pollinators of plants in the Rubiaceae family, highlighting the complexity of plant–pollinator systems.
AB - Most angiosperms rely on animal pollination for reproduction, but the dependence on specific pollinator groups varies greatly between species and localities. Notably, such dependence may be influenced by both floral traits and environmental conditions. Despite its importance, their joint contribution has rarely been studied at the assemblage level. At two elevations on the Caribbean island of Dominica, we measured the floral traits and the relative contributions of insects versus hummingbirds as pollinators of plants in the Rubiaceae family. Pollinator importance was measured as visitation rate (VR) and single visit pollen deposition (SVD), which were combined to assess overall pollinator effectiveness (PE). In the wet and cool Dominican highland, we found that hummingbirds were relatively more frequent and effective pollinators than insects, whereas insects and hummingbirds were equally frequent and effective pollinators at the warmer and less rainy midelevation. Furthermore, floral traits correlated independently of environment with the relative importance of pollinators, hummingbirds being more important in plant species having flowers with long and wide corollas producing higher volumes of dilute nectar. Our findings show that both environmental conditions and floral traits influence whether insects or hummingbirds are the most important pollinators of plants in the Rubiaceae family, highlighting the complexity of plant–pollinator systems.
KW - Environment
KW - functional specialisation
KW - plant–pollinator interactions
KW - pollen deposition
KW - pollination syndromes
KW - pollinator effectiveness
KW - pollinator importance
U2 - 10.1111/plb.12976
DO - 10.1111/plb.12976
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 30773824
AN - SCOPUS:85063682784
VL - 21
SP - 738
EP - 744
JO - Plant Biology
JF - Plant Biology
SN - 1435-8603
IS - 4
ER -
ID: 217994127