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Effects of pollen load, parasitoids and the environment on pre-dispersal seed predation in the cleistogamous Ruellia nudiflora

  • Plant-animal interactions - Original research
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Abstract

Few studies have simultaneously addressed the effects of biotic and abiotic factors on pre-dispersal seed predation (PSP). Plant–seed predator interactions may be influenced by natural enemies and pollinators (the latter through changes in fruit or seed traits), and the activity of pre-dispersal seed predators and their natural enemies may both be affected by the abiotic environment. Additionally, in the case of cleistogamous plants with fruit dimorphism, PSP may be biased towards larger and more seeded chasmogamous (CH) fruits [relative to the smaller cleistogamous (CL) fruits], and the effects of biotic and abiotic factors may be contingent upon this fruit dimorphism. We studied PSP in the cleistogamous Ruellia nudiflora using a split-plot experimental design and asked the following: (1) is PSP biased towards CH fruits and is there an effect of pollen load on PSP? (2) Do parasitoids influence PSP and is their effect influenced by pollen load or fruit type? And (3) do light and water availability modify PSP and parasitoid effects? PSP was higher for CH relative to CL fruits, and under low water availability it was lower for pollen-supplemented CH fruits relative to open-pollinated CH fruits. Parasitoids were not influenced by abiotic conditions, but their negative effect on PSP was stronger for pollen-supplemented CH fruits. Overall, we show that fruit dimorphism, abiotic factors and natural enemies affect PSP, and that these effects can be non-additive.

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Acknowledgments

This study was financially supported by CONACYT as part of a grant given to V. P. T. (SEP-2004-CO1-4658A/A1). The first author thanks PROMEP for a fellowship given during his stay at the UADY. The authors also thank L. Aldana for access to his property and logistic support. S. Mendoza, P. Tellez, N. Celaya, J. M. Pech-Canché, M. E. Jacome-Flores and B. Torales-Herrera provided field-work assistance. Several undergraduate students also helped with laboratory work. I. Ortegón-Campos, L. Salinas-Peba and D. Marrufo shared advice with regards to the study system and methods. The experiments comply with the current laws of the country (Mexico) in which the experiments were performed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mérida, 97310, Mexico

    Miguel A. Munguía-Rosas

  2. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, 92697, USA

    Luis Abdala-Roberts

  3. Departamento de Ecología Tropical, Campus de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, 97100, Mexico

    Víctor Parra-Tabla

Authors
  1. Miguel A. Munguía-Rosas
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  2. Luis Abdala-Roberts
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  3. Víctor Parra-Tabla
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Correspondence to Miguel A. Munguía-Rosas.

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Communicated by Jon Ågren.

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Munguía-Rosas, M.A., Abdala-Roberts, L. & Parra-Tabla, V. Effects of pollen load, parasitoids and the environment on pre-dispersal seed predation in the cleistogamous Ruellia nudiflora . Oecologia 173, 871–880 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-013-2649-0

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