Abstract
Most species of Neotropical Malpighiaceae are pollinated by oil-collecting bees of diverse sizes, but the effect of pollinator size on their reproductive success has still not been addressed in the literature. We performed a comparative description of stigma arrangements, analyzing the reproductive system and reproductive success and assessing pollinator sizes in Stigmaphyllon bonariense and Stigmaphyllon jatrophifolium. We collected flowers in three natural populations, conducting pollinator censuses and captures and performing manipulative experiments to determine the plants breeding system. We analyzed the morphology of stigmas and their receptivity and calculated the perimeter of the triangle formed by the stigmas (ST). Pollinator sizes, potential area for pollen transfer (PAPT), and the frequency of visits were also calculated. Stigma arrangement resulted in inverted triangles, and the ST was smaller in S. jatrophifolium than in S. bonariense. The overlap between ST and PAPT suggests that pollinators of all sizes were efficient in pollinating S. jatrophifolium, whereas only large and very large pollinators where efficient in S. bonariense. Moreover, very large pollinators had the highest visit frequencies. Our results indicated that both species are obligate xenogamous, pollinator-dependent, and present pollen limitation. We observed an increase in reproductive success related to the marked turnover in pollinator assemblage throughout the flowering season. These findings suggest that fruit and seed sets vary according to the context of the pollinators and that large pollinators would have the best performance.
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Acknowledgements
We thank N.A. Ramirez for helping with the statistical figures. To the Administración de Parque Nacionales (Regional NEA) and Ministerio de Ecología y Recursos Naturales Renovables, province of Misiones for the permission to conduct part of this study in protected areas of Argentina. The manuscript benefited from critical reading by R.F. de Almeida and one anonymous reviewer. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (PIP 11220170100429C), Argentina and the Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBACyT 20020130200203BA) for the financial support for this research.
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Financial support for this research was provided by the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (PIP 11220170100429C), Argentina and the Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBACyT 20020130200203BA).
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by AAA. The first draft of the manuscript was written by AAA and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. The statistical analyses were carried out by HJM. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Avalos, A.A., Marrero, H.J., Ferrucci, M.S. et al. Stigmas arrangement, reproductive system, and maternal reproductive success in two species of Stigmaphyllon (Malpighiaceae): does pollinator size matter?. Plant Ecol 222, 1263–1279 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-021-01176-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-021-01176-8