Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Spatial dynamics of pollination in dioecious Shepherdia canadensis (Elaeagnaceae)

  • Published:
Plant Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The immobility of plants and the need for third-party vectors to enact pollen transfer render pollination an inherently spatial process. Little is known about the spatial scales over which pollen transfer and plant reproductive success are dependent on mate availability in natural plant populations. Dioecious plants provide useful study systems for examining the dependence of reproductive success on spatial patterns of mate availability because potential pollen donors and recipients are unambiguous. We examined the spatial dynamics of pollination in the dioecious shrub Shepherdia canadensis (L.) Nutt. (Elaeagnaceae) at a range of spatial scales in Ivvavik National Park, Canada. On average, males occurred at higher frequencies than females across ten study sites with at least 60 S. canadensis plants per site. Although we detected substantial variation in sex ratios across sites, there was no association between sex ratio and fruit set. Instead, patterns of fruit set were significantly correlated with male density within sites, over distances of 4–6 m. The density of females and males was spatially cross correlated. Therefore, density effects appear to be driven by pollinator responses to the overall density of shrubs. A pollinator exclusion experiment indicated that syrphid flies (Family: Syrphidae) were the most important pollinators in these populations. This study demonstrates that female reproductive success in S. canadensis is limited by plant density over small spatial scales, corresponding with the short foraging distances characteristic of its fly pollinators.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ahee JE, Van Drunen WE, Dorken ME (2015) Analysis of pollination neighbourhood size using spatial analysis of pollen and seed production in broadleaf cattail (Typha latifolia). Botany 93:91–100

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Álvarez-Cansino L, Zunzunegui M, Barradas MCD, Esquivias MP (2010) Gender-specific costs of reproduction on vegetative growth and physiological performance in the dioecious shrub Corema album. Ann Bot 106:989–998

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Barrett SCH, Hough J (2013) Sexual dimorphism in flowering plants. J Exp Bot 64:67–82

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Barrett SCH, Thomson JD (1982) Spatial pattern, floral sex ratios, and fecundity in dioecious Aralia nudicaulis (Araliaceae). Can J Bot 60:1662–1670

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barrett SCH, Yakimowski SB, Field DL, Pickup M (2010) Ecological genetics of sex ratios in plant populations. Philos T R Soc B 365:2549–2557

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bates D, Maechler M, Bolker BM, Walker S (2014) lme4: Package ‘lme4’ http://CRAN.R-project.org/package=lme4

  • Beattie AJ (1971) A technique for the study of insect-borne pollen. Pan-Pacific Entomol 47:82

    Google Scholar 

  • Borkent CJ, Harder LD (2007) Flies (Diptera) as pollinators of two dioecious plants: behaviour and implications for plant mating. Can Entomol 139:235–246

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burkle LA, Alarcón R (2011) The future of plant-pollinator diversity: understanding interaction networks across time, space, and global change. Am J Bot 98:528–538

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Charnov EL (1979) Simultaneous hermaphroditism and sexual selection. PNAS 76:2480–2484

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Charnov EL (1986) Size advantage may not always favor sex change. J Theor Biol 119:283–285

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Crawley MJ (2007) The R book. Wiley, Chichester

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Dawson TE, Bliss LC (1989) Patterns of water use and the tissue water relations in the dioecious shrub, Salix arctica: the physiological basis for habitat partitioning between the sexes. Oecologia 79:332–343

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • de Jong TJ, van der Meijden E (2004) Sex ratio of some long-lived dioecious plants in a sand dune area. Plant Biol 6:616–620

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • de Jong TJ, Batenburg JC, Klinkhamer PGL (2005) Distance-dependent pollen limitation of seed set in some insect-pollinated dioecious plants. Acta Oecol 28:331–335

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elberling H, Olesen JM (1999) The structure of a high latitude plant-flower visitor system: the dominance of flies. Ecography 22:314–323

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fromhage L, Kokko H (2010) Spatial seed and pollen games: dispersal, sex allocation, and the evolution of dioecy. J Evol Biol 23:1947–1956

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • García MB, Antor RJ, Espadaler X (1995) Ant pollination of the palaeoendemic dioecious Borderea pyrenaica (Dioscoreaceae). Plant Syst Evol 198:17–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garibaldi LA et al (2013) Wild pollinators enhance fruit set of crops regardless of honey bee abundance. Science 339:1608–1611

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gómez JM, Abdelaziz M, Lorite J, Jesús Muñoz-Pajares A, Perfectti F (2010) Changes in pollinator fauna cause spatial variation in pollen limitation. J Ecol 98:1243–1252

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton WD (1967) Extraordinary sex ratios. Science 156:477–488

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hesse E, Pannell JR (2011) Density-dependent pollen limitation and reproductive assurance in a wind-pollinated herb with contrasting sexual systems. J Ecol 99:1531–1539

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hickman JC (1974) Pollination by ants: a low-energy system. Science 184:1290–1292

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • House SM (1992) Population density and fruit set in three dioecious tree species in Australian tropical rain forest. J Ecol 80:57–69

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hull DA, Beattie AJ (1988) Adverse effects on pollen exposed to Atta texana and other North American ants: implications for ant pollination. Oecologia 75:153–155

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karst AL, Antos JA, Allen GA (2008) Sex ratio, flowering and fruit set in dioecious Rubus chamaemorus (Rosaceae) in Labrador. Can J Bot 86:204–212

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kearns CA, Inouye DW (1993) Techniques for pollination biologists. University Press of Colorado, Niwot

    Google Scholar 

  • Kearns CA, Inouye DW, Waser NW (1998) Endangered mutualisms: the conservation of plant-pollinator interactions. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 29:83–112

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kevan PG, Baker HG (1983) Insects as flower visitors and pollinators. Annu Rev Entomol 18:407–453

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klein AM et al (2007) Importance of pollinators in changing landscapes for world crops. Proc R Soc B 274:303–313

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kunin WE (1993) Sex and the single mustard: population density and pollinator behavior effects on seed-set. Ecology 74:2145–2160

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis GM (1990) Sex ratios, sexual dimorphism and site dynamics in the dioecious shrub Shepherdia canadensis (L.) Nutt. Dissertation, University of Calgary

  • Lin S-Y (2014) Spatial dynamics of pollination in dioecious Shepherdia canadensis in Yukon. Thesis. Trent University

  • Makino TT, Ohashi K, Sakai S (2007) How do floral display size and the density of surrounding flowers influence the likelihood of bumble bee revisitation to a plant? Funct Ecol 21:87–95

    Google Scholar 

  • Nock CA, Caspersen JP, Thomas SC (2008) Large ontogenetic declines in intra-crown leaf area index in two temperate deciduous tree species. Ecology 89:744–753

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Obeso JR (2002) The costs of reproduction in plants. New Phytol 155:321–348

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Öster M, Eriksson O (2007) Sex ratio mediated pollen limitation in the dioecious herb Antennaria dioica. Ecoscience 14:387–398

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pinheiro J, Bates D, DebRoy S, Sarkar D, R Core Team (2012) nlme: linear and nonlinear mixed effects models. R package verion 3. pp. 1–109

  • Rudgers JA, Gardener MC (2004) Extrafloral nectar as a resource mediating multispecies interactions. Ecology 85:1495–1502

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scoggan HJ (1979) The flora of Canada, vol 4. National Museum of Natural Sciences, Publications in Botany, Ottawa

    Google Scholar 

  • Skaug H, Fournier D, Bolker B, Magnusson A, Nielsen A (2014). Generalized Linear Mixed Models using AD Model Builder. R package version 0.8.0

  • Smouse PE, Dyer RJ, Westfall RD, Sork VL (2001) Two-generation analysis of pollen flow across a landscape. Male gamete heterogeneity among females. I. Evolution 55:260–271

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sokal RR, Rohlf FJ (1995) Biometry, 3rd edn. WH Freeman and Company, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Sork VL et al (2002) Pollen movement in declining populations of California Valley oak, Quercus lobata: where have all the fathers gone? Mol Ecol 11:1657–1668

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stehlik I, Friedman J, Barrett SCH (2008) Environmental influence on primary sex ratio in a dioecious plant. Proc Natl Acad Sci 105:10847–10852

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stephenson SN (1986) A comparison of life history characteristics of selected dioecious plants in Michigan. Mich Acade 18:159–174

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Drunen WE, Dorken ME (2012) Trade-offs between clonal and sexual reproduction in Sagittaria latifolia (Alismataceae) scale up to affect the fitness of entire clones. New Phytol 196:606–616

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Westerbergh A, Saura A (1994) Gene flow and pollinator behaviour in Silene dioica populations. Oikos 71:215–224

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank Kayla Arey, Eva Esmann Behrensfor, Blythe Browne, Rebecca Conlan, David Elwood, Tyee Fellows, Jay Frandsen, Judy Frandsen, Bronwen Hennigar, Ariana Hauck, Rebecca Kaufman, Melissa Lennie, Pinette Robinson, and George Zorn for their assistance in the field. We are particularly grateful to Linh Nguyen and Parks Canada staff in the Western Arctic Field Unit for their support and care in Ivvavik National Park and to Bill Crins of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry for his assistance with pollinator identification. Joanna Freeland and an anonymous reviewer provided helpful comments on previous versions of the manuscript. Funding was provided by the National Science and Engineering Research Council through the Canadian Pollination Initiative (CANPOLIN) to EN and MED, Northern Scientific Training Program (NSTP) grants to SYL, Parks Canada, Wildlife Management Advisory Council (North Slope), and Trent University.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Ottawa, 30 Marie Curie, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada

    Shang-Yao Lin

  2. Department of Biology, Trent University, 1600 West Bank Dr., Peterborough, ON, K9J 7B8, Canada

    Erica Nol & Marcel E. Dorken

Authors
  1. Shang-Yao Lin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Erica Nol
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Marcel E. Dorken
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shang-Yao Lin.

Additional information

Communicated by Satoki Sakai.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOC 298 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Lin, SY., Nol, E. & Dorken, M.E. Spatial dynamics of pollination in dioecious Shepherdia canadensis (Elaeagnaceae). Plant Ecol 216, 1213–1223 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-015-0502-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-015-0502-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation