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Seasonal changes in pollen-packaging schedules in the protandrous plant Chamerion angustifolium

  • Population Ecology
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Abstract

The rate at which pollen is presented varies widely both among and within species of flowering plants. Although several studies have tried to explain between-species variation in this trait, few explanations exist for the variation that exists among individuals of the same species. I used protandrous fireweed, Chamerion angustifolium (Onagraceae), to examine seasonal changes in pollinator visitation, population sex ratio, and pollen presentation schedules. Most studies that make predictions about optimal pollen presentation assume conditions are constant throughout the flowering season. However, data presented here show that pollen presentation schedules vary seasonally: in early season flowers, anthers dehisce over a number of days, while late season flowers present all anthers simultaneously. I show that pollinator visitation rates to individual plants are higher but more variable early in the season than late in the season. Furthermore, per-male availability of female-phase flowers increases over the course of the flowering season in this population. I suggest that seasonal differences in the variability of pollinator visitation and the availability of female flowers has played an important role in selection for pollen presentation schedules.

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Acknowledgements

I thank L. Takahashi and J. Tyerman for assistance with data collection and R. Prasad for suggestions about data presentation. E. Elle, R. Lalonde, S. Otto, B. Roitberg, P. Wilson, R. Ydenberg and two anonymous reviewers contributed helpful comments on earlier versions of the manuscript. Financial support was provided by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) operating grant to B. Roitberg and a postgraduate award to R. D. S.

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  1. Risa D. Sargent

    Present address: Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, 6270 University Boulevard, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada

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  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada

    Risa D. Sargent

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  1. Risa D. Sargent
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Correspondence to Risa D. Sargent.

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Sargent, R.D. Seasonal changes in pollen-packaging schedules in the protandrous plant Chamerion angustifolium . Oecologia 135, 221–226 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-003-1187-6

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