| Title: | "Night and day: Contributions of diurnal and nocturnal visitors to pollen dispersal, paternity diversity and fruit set in an early-blooming shrub, Daphne jezoensis" |
| Address: | "Graduate School of Environmental Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 060-0810, Japan. Faculty of Environmental Earth Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 060-0810, Japan" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1537-2197 (Electronic) 0002-9122 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "PREMISE: Under uncertain pollinator visit conditions, plants often exhibit long flowering periods and generalized pollination systems. Flowering of the gynodioecious shrub Daphne jezoensis occurs early in spring in cool temperate forests. Pollination by nocturnal moths is expected due to tubular-shaped flowers with sweet fragrance and nectar. However, the effectiveness of nocturnal moths under cool conditions remains unknown. In this study, we evaluated the relative importance of diurnal and nocturnal visitors as pollinators in early spring. METHODS: Flowering duration, flower visitors, and floral scents were investigated in a natural population. We experimentally exposed flowers to visitors only during daytime or nighttime by bagging treatments and evaluated the contributions of diurnal and nocturnal insects to fruit set, pollen dispersal distance, and paternity diversity using 16 microsatellite markers. KEY RESULTS: Female flowers lasted approximately 3 weeks, which was approximately 8 days longer than that of hermaphrodites. Various insects, including Coleoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera, and Lepidoptera, visited the flowers during both daytime and nighttime. Flowers emitted volatiles, such as lilac aldehyde isomers and beta-ocimene, which are known to attract moths. Fruit-set in the night-open treatment was similar to or higher than in the day-open treatment. However, the pollen dispersal distance in the night-open treatment was shorter than in the day-open treatment. Paternity diversity was similar in day-open and night-open treatments. CONCLUSIONS: Early-blooming plants ensure pollen receipt and dispersal by having a long flowering period and using both diurnal and nocturnal flower visitors, suggesting the importance of a generalized pollination system under uncertain pollinator visit conditions. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved" |
| Keywords: | Thymelaeaceae early-blooming floral scent flower longevity generalized pollination gynodioecy nocturnal moth paternity diversity pollen dispersal; |
| Notes: | "PublisherShibata, Akari Kudo, Gaku eng 2023/09/05 Am J Bot. 2023 Sep 5. doi: 10.1002/ajb2.16239" |
