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Field Experiments of Pollination Ecology: The Case of Lycoris sanguinea var. sanguinea
Published on: November 25, 2016
Pollinator effectiveness varies with experimental shifts in flowering time
Nicole E Rafferty1, Anthony R Ives
1Department of Zoology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA. nrafferty@email.arizona.edu
Ecology
|June 14, 2012
Summary
Climate change causes earlier flowering in plants, potentially reducing pollination success. This study found that earlier flowering in two wildflowers led to lower pollinator effectiveness and seed set, impacting plant reproduction.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Plant Biology
- Climate Change Research
Background:
- Climate change is altering plant phenology, specifically flowering times.
- Mismatches between flowering and pollinator availability can negatively impact plant reproductive success.
- Previous work indicated flowering time affects fruit set in Tradescantia ohiensis and Asclepias incarnata.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how altered flowering phenology affects pollinator composition and effectiveness.
- To determine the reproductive consequences of earlier flowering for two perennial wildflowers.
- To assess the role of pollinator assemblage changes versus individual pollinator effectiveness in driving reproductive costs.
Main Methods:
- Experimental manipulation of flowering onset in controlled greenhouse conditions.
- Field placement of plants over a five-week period to simulate natural variation.
- Measurement of pollinator effectiveness based on seed production per flower visit.
Main Results:
- Earlier flowering resulted in lower average pollinator effectiveness and reduced pollination success for both species.
- For Asclepias incarnata, changes in pollinator composition were the primary driver of reduced seed set.
- For Tradescantia ohiensis, both pollinator composition shifts and increased effectiveness of some pollinators contributed to lower seed set.
Conclusions:
- Earlier flowering poses a reproductive cost to these wildflowers due to potential temporal mismatches with pollinators.
- Shifts in pollinator community composition and varying pollinator effectiveness complicate the reproductive consequences of phenological changes.
- These findings highlight the complex ecological impacts of climate change on plant-pollinator interactions and plant population viability.
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