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Pollination intensity and potential seed set in Passiflora vitifolia
1Botany Department, University of Massachusetts, 01003, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA.
Oecologia
|March 18, 2017
Summary
Pollination limits seed and fruit set in Passiflora vitifolia, a self-incompatible plant. Hummingbirds often fail to deliver enough pollen for maximum seed production, highlighting a disadvantage of self-incompatibility.
Area of Science:
- Plant reproductive biology
- Ecology
- Evolutionary biology
Background:
- Self-incompatibility is a common mating system in flowering plants.
- Passiflora vitifolia is a self-incompatible species with numerous ovules per flower.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate pollen limitation in Passiflora vitifolia reproduction.
- To quantify pollen requirements for fruit and seed set.
- To assess the effectiveness of hummingbird pollination.
Main Methods:
- Measuring pollination intensity by counting pollen grains on stigmas.
- Conducting hand-pollinations to determine pollen thresholds.
- Comparing fruit and seed set between natural and hand-pollinated flowers.
- Observing hummingbird visitation rates and pollen delivery.
Main Results:
- Fruit and seed set were significantly pollen-limited.
- 25-50 pollen grains were needed for fruit set, and >450 for maximum seed set.
- Hummingbirds provided sufficient pollen for maximum seed set in only 28% of flowers.
- Hand-pollination resulted in higher fruit and seed yield compared to natural pollination.
Conclusions:
- Pollen limitation is a key factor affecting reproduction in this Passiflora vitifolia population.
- Self-incompatibility, combined with insufficient pollen delivery by pollinators, can reduce reproductive success.
- Maternal resources may also limit reproductive potential, but pollination intensity is a critical variable for seed set.
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