Nectar replenishment and pollen receipt interact in their effects on seed production of Penstemon roseus

Resource supply and pollen delivery are often thought to equally limit seed production in animal-pollinated plants. At equilibrium, plants should show no response to experimental pollen supplementation because resources limit seed set above the current level of pollen attraction, while experimental reduction in pollen deposition below the equilibrium level would reduce seed set. The predicted equilibrium may be disrupted, however, if plants expend additional energy to replenish removed nectar. We investigated the combined effects of nectar removal and pollen delivery on female reproductive success of Penstemon roseus (Plantaginaceae), a hummingbird-pollinated plant that replenishes removed nectar. We first documented that the frequency of experimental nectar removal was correlated with total nectar secretion; and increased frequency of nectar removal resulted in increased female reproductive costs to the plant. Trade-offs between investing resources in nectar and investing resources in seeds were then investigated in two contrasting natural populations by removing nectar from flowers at increasing frequencies while simultaneously hand-pollinating flowers with increasing amounts of pollen. Seed set was lowest at low levels of pollen deposition, highest at medium-sized pollen loads, and intermediate when pollen loads were highest. At both sites, the frequency of nectar removal and pollen deposition had an interactive effect on seed production, in that intermediate levels of nectar removal result in the absolute highest seed set, but only at intermediate pollen loads. At high pollen loads, seed set was higher following little to no nectar removal, and at low pollen loads, all rates of nectar removal affected fecundity equally. Seed mass responded to nectar removal and pollination differently than did seed set. High levels of nectar removal and pollen delivery both lowered seed mass, with little interaction between main effects. Our findings are among the first to demonstrate that nectar replenishment costs and pollination intensity jointly affect seed production. This conflict between nectar replenishment costs and pollen-limiting factors results in trade-offs between pollinator attraction and seed provisioning. Thus, resource allocation towards nectar production should more often be considered in future studies of pollen limitation.