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Andromonoecy and high fruit abortion in Anthonotha noldeae in a West African montane forest

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Abstract

Anthonotha noldeae (Rossberg) Exell et Hillc. Leguminosae, Caesalpinioideae, an Afromontane forest canopy tree, produces a superabundance of flowers, but few (1.1%) initiate fruits, and even fewer (0.44%) reach maturity and disperse. Fifty-three percent of fruits are predated. A. noldeae is andromonoecious. Over all 20 trees for which we counted floral gender ratios (hermaphrodite vs. staminate flowers), the ratio was 2.1:1. There was significant (F19,379 = 8.52; p < 0.001) variation in the proportion of the two flower types produced among individuals. Floral gender ratios did not predict the proportion of mature fruits produced on a tree (r2 = 0.066; p = 0.273), or its phenotypic gender (Gi)—which is defined as the contribution of an individual tree to the next generation in terms of female function relative to all other individuals in the population (r2 = 0.069; p = 0.262). Gi varied among trees from 0 (functionally male) to 0.8. There was no correlation between tree size and phenotypic gender (r = 0.08; p = 0.74; n = 20). Open flowers initiated significantly more fruits than bagged or caged flowers (p = 0.0073), showing A. noldeae relies on birds to produce fruits. However, 80% of visits to flowers were made by insects, while only 20% of visits were from pollinating sunbirds. While low fruit initiation was the most restrictive reproductive step, low pollination rates combined with insect robbers, fungal attacks and high levels of predation of immature fruits may contribute to the extremely low fruit set in A. noldeae.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Nigerian Conservation Foundation for their invitation to conduct field work, the Taraba State Forest Service for our research site, Charles Nsor and Kennedy Poloma for pollinator observations, and Augustine Ntim for field assistance. This manuscript benefited greatly from discussions with Spencer Barrett and Colin Webb, as well as anonymous reviewers. This research was funded by The North of England Zoological Society, the A.P. Leventis Foundation and Nexen Inc.

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  1. School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, PB 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand

    Merodie A. Beavon & Hazel M. Chapman

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  1. Merodie A. Beavon
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  2. Hazel M. Chapman
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Correspondence to Hazel M. Chapman.

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Beavon, M.A., Chapman, H.M. Andromonoecy and high fruit abortion in Anthonotha noldeae in a West African montane forest. Plant Syst Evol 296, 217–224 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-011-0488-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-011-0488-1

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