Abstract Detail

Pollination Biology

Diller, Carolina [1], Fenster, Charlie [2].

Evaluating the effects of pollinator mediated selection on floral trait variation.

The vast diversity of floral shapes are associated with different reproductive, mating and pollination strategies. Pollination precision has direct effect on the reproductive success and isolation of plant species. Precise pollination may result in increased reproductive isolation from sympatric species by limiting the distribution of pollen to specific areas of a pollinator's body, different to the location of sympatric species, and thus reducing the loss of pollen to interspecific plant individuals. We expect certain floral shapes such as bilateral symmetry, fused petals, lower merosity, etc. to promote precise pollination. Pollination precision may influence the type of selection exerted on the flowers, with more uniform selection for precise pollination systems and variable and contrasting selective pressures for less precise pollination systems. Thus we expect those trait states associated with more precise pollination to have lower phenotypic variation than alternative trait states. These ideas have been explored for over 50 years with studies that support this hypothesis. Here we perform a phylogenetically informed meta-analysis of eleven papers (published in 1960- 2015) that have addressed the relationship between patterns of floral variation and pollination system (about 230 angiosperm species). We also included additional morphological and functional traits that to our knowledge haven’t been analyzed before. We perform a phylogenetic least squares analysis to determine which floral traits (i.e. symmetry, fusion, merosity, orientation etc.) and their interactions explain the difference in floral size variation across individuals observed across angiosperm species. Thus, we provide a more powerful macroevolutionary analysis than previous studies both with the inclusion of more floral traits as predictors of trait variation as well as the inclusion of more species. Preliminary results indicate that flower orientation and stamen and style exsertion, two traits that hadn’t been considered before, are important determinants of pollination precision.

1 - University of Maryland, Biology, 1210 BPS Biology Psychology Building, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742, USA
2 - University of Maryland, Biology, Biology Psychology Building, College Park, MD, 20742, USA

Keywords:
none specified

Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 36, Pollination Biology
Location: 203/Savannah International Trade and Convention Center
Date: Wednesday, August 3rd, 2016
Time: 10:45 AM
Number: 36010
Abstract ID:521
Candidate for Awards:None