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Asymmetric pollen transfer and reproductive success of the hawkmoth-pollinated distylous tree Palicourea tetragona (Rubiaceae) at La Selva, Costa Rica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 September 2013

Silvana Martén-Rodríguez ,
Paola Muñoz-Gamboa ,
Ruth Delgado-Dávila  and
Mauricio Quesada
Silvana Martén-Rodríguez*
Affiliation:
Departamento de Biología Evolutiva, Instituto de Ecología A.C., carretera antigua a Coatepec No. 351, El Haya, Xalapa, Veracruz 91070, México Escuela de Biología, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica
Paola Muñoz-Gamboa
Affiliation:
Escuela de Biología, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica
Ruth Delgado-Dávila
Affiliation:
Departamento de Biología Evolutiva, Instituto de Ecología A.C., carretera antigua a Coatepec No. 351, El Haya, Xalapa, Veracruz 91070, México
Mauricio Quesada
Affiliation:
Centro de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado Postal 27-3 (Xangari), Morelia, Michoacán 58089, México
*
1Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract:

Distyly is a floral polymorphism that presumably evolved to facilitate cross-pollination and to prevent sexual interference. However, pollen transfer is often asymmetric, with one floral morph acting as a pollen donor and the other as a pollen recipient. We evaluated the association between floral morphology, pollinator visitation and effectiveness on patterns of pollen transfer in distylous Palicourea tetragona at La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica. To assess floral variation we measured corolla, pistil and stamen traits from 66 plants. We quantified pollinator visitation and efficiency on 56 individuals and counted pollen loads on stigmas of flowers observed for 1 h. We determined fruit set 2 mo later and assessed between-morph variation in pollen transfer and female reproductive success. Floral variation was mostly consistent with a typical distylous system; however, there was overlap in the stigma heights of pin and thrum individuals in the study population. Primary pollinators were two species of hawkmoths that visited both morphs at a frequency of 2 visits per flower h−1. The mean number of pollen grains deposited on stigmas was 89 for pin and 153 for thrum individuals. However, loads of illegitimate pollen were higher on stigmas of thrum individuals, while loads of legitimate pollen were higher on stigmas of pin individuals. Consistently, fruit set was higher in pin (31%) than in thrum individuals (22%). High deposition of illegitimate pollen, in addition to the lower female reproductive success in the thrum morph reveal that distyly in P. tetragona does not always prevent sexual interference. We suggest that in long and narrow tubular flowers, like those of P. tetragona, stigma clogging by deposition of self- or same-morph pollen may reduce legitimate fertilization of ovules causing the observed asymmetric fruit set.

Keywords

asymmetric pollen transferCosta Ricadistylyhawkmothpollination
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 29 , Issue 6 , November 2013 , pp. 501 - 510
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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