Location:Home >> Papers >> Recent papers
Details of the Faculty or Staff
  • Title:  Change of floral orientation affects pollinator diversity and their relative importance in an alpine plant with generalized pollination system, Geranium refractum (Geraniaceae)
  • Authors: 
  • Corresponding Author:  Hui Wang, Chang-Long Xiao, Robert W. Gituru, Zheng Xiong, Dan Yu, You-Hao Guo, Chun-Feng Yang
  • Pubyear:  2014
  • Title of Journal:  Plant Ecol
  • Paper Code: 
  • Volume:  215
  • Number:  2014
  • Page:  1211–1219
  • Others: 
  • Classification: 
  • Source: 

    Abstract:

  • Floral orientation may affect pollinator attraction and pollination effectiveness, and its influencesmay differ among pollinator species. We, therefore, hypothesized that, for plant species with ageneralized pollination system, changes in floral orientation would affect the composition of pollinators and their relative contribution to pollination. Geranium refractum, an alpine plant with downward floral orientation was used in this study. We created upwardfacing flowers by altering the flower angle. We compared the pollinator diversity, pollination effectiveness,and pollinator importance, as well as female reproductive success between flowers with downward- and upward-facing orientation. Results indicated that the upward-facing flowers were visited by a wider spectrum of pollinators (classified into functional groups), with higher pollinator diversity than natural flowers. Moreover, due to influences on visitation number and pollen removal, the pollinator importance exhibited by the main pollinator groupsdiffered between flower types. Compared with natural flowers, the pollination contribution of principal pollinators (i.e., bumblebees) decreased in upwardfacing flowers and other infrequent pollinators, such as solitary bees and muscoid flies, removed more pollen. Consequently, stigmatic pollen loads were lower in upward- than in downward-facing flowers. These findings reveal that floral orientation may affect the level of generalization of a pollination system and the relative importance of diverse pollinators. In this species, the natural downward-facing floral orientation may increase pollen transfer by effective pollinators and reduce interference by inferior pollinators.

Copyright 2002 - 2023 Wuhan Botanical Garden,Chinese Academy Of Sciences
Email: wbgoffice@wbgcas.cn     ICP: 05004779-1