Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A direct measure of pollinator effectiveness

  • Original Papers
  • Published:
Oecologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

A direct measure of pollinator effectiveness, relying on seed set, is proposed, where:

$$PE_i = \frac{{(P_i - {\text{Z}})}}{{({\text{U}} - {\text{Z}})}}$$

P i =mean number of seeds set/flower by a plant population receiving a single visit from species i

Z=mean number of seeds set/flower by a population receiving no visitation.

U=mean number of seeds set/flower by a population receiving unrestrained visitation.

The utility and limitations of the proposed measure are discussed and exemplified with a population of Ipomoea trichocarpa (Convoculaceae)

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

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alderz WC (1966) Honeybee visit numbers and watermelon pollination. Journal of Economic Entomology 59:28–30

    Google Scholar 

  • Baker HG, Hurd PD (1968) Intrafloral ecology. Annual Review of Entomology 13:385–414

    Google Scholar 

  • Barrows EM (1976) Nectar robbing and pollination of Lantana camara (Verbenaceae). Biotropica 8:132–135

    Google Scholar 

  • Beattie AJ (1972) The pollination ecology of Viola, 2. Pollen loads of insect visitors. Watsonia 9:13–25

    Google Scholar 

  • Charnov EL (1979) Simultaneous hermaphroditism and sexual selection. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 76:2480–2484

    Google Scholar 

  • Collison CH, Martin EC (1979) The relationship of foraging activity to fruit set and shape in the pollination of pickling cucumbers, Cucumis sativus. Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium on Pollination. Maryland Agricultural Experimental Station Special Publications 1:183–188

    Google Scholar 

  • Eaton GW, Daubeny HA, Norman RC (1967) Pollination techniques for red raspberry breeding programs. Canadian Journal of Plant Sciences 48:342–344

    Google Scholar 

  • Ehrenfeld JG (1979) Pollination of three species of Euphorbia subgenus Chamaesyce, with special reference to bees. American Midland Naturalist 101:89–98

    Google Scholar 

  • Faegri K, Pijl L van der (1979) Principles of pollination ecology. 3rd edition, revised. Pergamon Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Galen C, Kevan PC (1980) Scent and color, floral polymorphism and pollination biology in Polemonium viscosum. American Midland Naturalist 104:282–289

    Google Scholar 

  • Grant V, Grant KA (1965) Flower pollination in the Phlox family. Columbia University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Gregory DP (1963) Hawkmoth pollination in the genus Oenothera. Aliso 5:357–384

    Google Scholar 

  • Gregory DP (1964) Hawkmoth pollination in the genus Oenothera. Aliso 5:385–419

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartling LK, Plowright RC (1979) An investigation of inter- and intra-inflorescence visitation rates by bumblebees on red clover with special reference to seed set. Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium on Pollination. Maryland Agricultural Experimental Station Special Publications 1:457–460

    Google Scholar 

  • Janzen DH (1977) A note on optimal mate selection by plants. American Naturalist 111:365–371

    Google Scholar 

  • McDade LA, Kinsman S (1980) The impact of floral parasitism in two neotropical, hummingbird pollinated species. Evolution 34:944–958

    Google Scholar 

  • McGregor SE, Levin MD, Foster RE (1965) Honeybee visitors and fruit set in cantaloups. Journal of Economic Entomology 58:968–970

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller RB (1981) Hawkmonths and the geographic patterns of floral visitation in Aquilegia caerulea. Evolution 35:763–774

    Google Scholar 

  • Motten AF, Campbell DR, Alexander DE, Miller HL (1981) Pollination effectiveness of specialist and generalist visitors to a North Carolina population of Claytonia virginica. Ecology 62:1278–1287

    Google Scholar 

  • Parker FD, Hatley CL (1979) Onion pollination: Viability of onion pollen and pollen diversity on insect body hairs. Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium on Pollination. Maryland Agricultural Experimental Station Special Miscellaneous Publications 1:201–206

    Google Scholar 

  • Primack RB, Silander JA Jr (1975) Measuring the relative importance of different pollinators to plants. Nature 255:143

    Google Scholar 

  • Rust RW (1979) Pollination of Impatiens capensis: Pollinators and nectar robbers. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 52:297–308

    Google Scholar 

  • Stephenson AG (1979) An evolutionary examination of the floral display of Catalpa speciosa. Evolution 33:1200–1209

    Google Scholar 

  • Stephenson AG (1980) Fruit set, herbivory, fruit reduction, and the fruiting strategy of Catalpa speciosa. Ecology 61:57–64

    Google Scholar 

  • Tepedino VJ (1981) The pollination efficiency of the squash bee (Peponapis pruinosa) and the honey bee (Apis mellifera) on summer squash (Cucurbita pepo). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 54:359–377

    Google Scholar 

  • Waser NM (1978) Competition for hummingbird pollination and sequential flowering in two Colorado wildflowers. Ecology 59:934–944

    Google Scholar 

  • Willson MF (1979) Sexual selection in plants. American Naturalist 113:777–790

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, University of Florida, 32611, Gainesville, Florida, USA

    E. Eugene Spears Jr.

Authors
  1. E. Eugene Spears Jr.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Spears, E.E. A direct measure of pollinator effectiveness. Oecologia 57, 196–199 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00379581

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00379581

Keywords

Search

Navigation