Abstract
Premise of research. How pollen is transferred, both its removal from stamens and its deposition on stigmas, plays an important role in the reproductive success of plants. Pollen transfer models typically depend on pollinator visitation rate where a single visit is sufficient for pollen deposition but multiple visits enhance pollen removal. Frequently visited flowers may be structured so as to restrict the amount of pollen released per visit (pollen presentation hypothesis). However, alternative models predict rapid loss of pollen if the probability of fertilization is time limited. Here we present an experimental study on a staminal trait, filament trichomes, and its role in pollen transfer (pollen removal and deposition).Methodology. Agalinis auriculata flowers are short-lived and possess trichomes along the longer abaxial stamens. Bombus impatiens vibrated stamens and foraged sternotribically, whereas Bombus pensylvanicus foraged nototribically without vibrating. Experiments involving single bee visits to unvisited flowers were used to estimate pollen transfer dynamics as related to filament trichome number. Selection differentials were calculated for both transfer processes and compared between the two types of foraging behaviors.Pivotal results. We found significant differentials for both types of foraging for pollen removal but not pollen deposition. Contrary to our expectation, the number of trichomes along the filament had a significant positive effect on pollen removal for sternotribic, vibrating visits but had a significant negative effect for nototribic visits.Conclusions. We conclude that the short-lived flowers result in time-dependent fertilization favoring rapid pollen loss for vibrating visits. Filament trichomes seem to facilitate grasping of trichomes by the pollinator, which most likely explains the contrasting influence trichomes had on pollen removal by differing bee foraging behaviors.
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Claims 8
Claim · model-written summary
Bombus impatiens vibrated stamens and foraged sternotribically.
- Taxon
- Agalinis auriculataAgalinis auriculatat0
- Interactor
- Bombus impatiens
Bombus impatiense0pollinator - Outcome
- vibrated stamens and foraged sternotribicallye0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Bombus impatiens vibrated stamens and foraged sternotribically”
t0“Agalinis auriculata”
Claim · model-written summary
Bombus pensylvanicus foraged nototribically without vibrating.
- Taxon
- Agalinis auriculataAgalinis auriculatat0
- Interactor
- Bombus pensylvanicus
Bombus pensylvanicuse0pollinator - Outcome
- foraged nototribically without vibratinge0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Bombus pensylvanicus foraged nototribically without vibrating”
t0“Agalinis auriculata”
Claim · model-written summary
Pollen removal showed significant selection differentials for both bee foraging types.
- Taxon
- Agalinis auriculataAgalinis auriculatat0
- Outcome
- pollen removale0
Verbatim
e0“significant differentials for both types of foraging for pollen removal”
t0“Agalinis auriculata”
Claim · model-written summary
Pollen deposition showed no significant selection differentials for either foraging type.
- Taxon
- Agalinis auriculataAgalinis auriculatat0
- Outcome
- pollen depositione0
Verbatim
e0“but not pollen deposition”
t0“Agalinis auriculata”
Claim · model-written summary
More filament trichomes significantly increased pollen removal in sternotribic vibrating visits.
Verbatim
e0“the number of trichomes along the filament had a significant positive effect on pollen removal for sternotribic, vibrating visits”
t0“Agalinis auriculata”
Claim · model-written summary
More filament trichomes significantly decreased pollen removal in nototribic visits.
Verbatim
e0“the number of trichomes along the filament had a significant positive effect on pollen removal for sternotribic, vibrating visits but had a significant negative effect for nototribic visits”
t0“Agalinis auriculata”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors infer that short-lived flowers favor rapid pollen loss on vibrating visits.
- Taxon
- Agalinis auriculataAgalinis auriculatat0
- Outcome
- rapid pollen losse0
- Qualifier
- time-dependent fertilizatione0
Verbatim
e0“the short-lived flowers result in time-dependent fertilization favoring rapid pollen loss for vibrating visits”
t0“Agalinis auriculata”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors suggest trichomes help pollinators grasp stamens, explaining contrasting pollen removal.
- Taxon
- Agalinis auriculataAgalinis auriculatat0
- Outcome
- contrasting influence trichomes had on pollen removale0
- Qualifier
- facilitate grasping of trichomes by the pollinatore0
Verbatim
e0“Filament trichomes seem to facilitate grasping of trichomes by the pollinator, which most likely explains the contrasting influence trichomes had on pollen removal by differing bee foraging behaviors”
t0“Agalinis auriculata”