| Title: | Transition from wind pollination to insect pollination in sedges: experimental evidence and functional traits |
| Address: | "School of Biological and Conservation Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag X01, Scottsville 3209, South Africa. Present address: Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, 100 Ecology Building, 1987 Upper Buford Circle, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA" |
| DOI: | 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2011.03762.x |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1469-8137 (Electronic) 0028-646X (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Transitions from wind pollination to insect pollination were pivotal to the radiation of land plants, yet only a handful are known and the trait shifts required are poorly understood. We tested the hypothesis that a transition to insect pollination took place in the ancestrally wind-pollinated sedges (Cyperaceae) and that floral traits modified during this transition have functional significance. We paired putatively insect-pollinated Cyperus obtusiflorus and Cyperus sphaerocephalus with related, co-flowering, co-occurring wind-pollinated species, and compared pairs in terms of pollination mode and functional roles of floral traits. Experimentally excluding insects reduced seed set by 56-89% in putatively insect-pollinated species but not in intermingled wind-pollinated species. The pollen of putatively insect-pollinated species was less motile in a wind tunnel than that of wind-pollinated species. Bees, beetles and flies preferred inflorescences, and color-matched white or yellow models, of putatively insect-pollinated species over inflorescences, or color-matched brown models, of wind-pollinated species. Floral scents of putatively insect-pollinated species were chemically consistent with those of other insect-pollinated plants, and attracted pollinators; wind-pollinated species were unscented. These results show that a transition from wind pollination to insect pollination occurred in sedges and shed new light on the function of traits involved in this important transition" |
| Keywords: | Animals Color Cyperus/chemistry/growth & development/*physiology Inflorescence/physiology Insecta/*physiology Odorants/analysis Pollen/physiology *Pollination Seeds/growth & development/physiology *Wind; |
| Notes: | "MedlineWragg, Peter D Johnson, Steven D eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2011/05/19 New Phytol. 2011 Sep; 191(4):1128-1140. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2011.03762.x. Epub 2011 May 17" |
