INVESTIGADORES
ORDANO Mariano Andres
artículos
Título:
The cost of nectar replenishment in two epiphytic bromeliads
Autor/es:
MARIANO ORDANO; JUAN FRANCISCO ORNELAS
Revista:
JOURNAL OF TROPICAL ECOLOGY
Editorial:
Cambridge University Press
Referencias:
Lugar: Cambridge, UK; Año: 2005 vol. 21 p. 541 - 547
ISSN:
0266-4674
Resumen:
Animal-pollinated
angiosperm plants that replenish removed nectar invest energy that can entail a
reproductive cost. Here we investigated whether or not seed production is
affected by replenishing nectar in hummingbird-pollinated Tillandsia
multicaulis and T. deppeana (Bromeliaceae) in a montane cloud forest in eastern
Mexico. These epiphytic plants respond strongly and positively to repeated
nectar removal. The female reproductive cost was assessed in manually,
cross-pollinated flowers with or without repeated nectar removal. Seed
production from experimental flowers was then contrasted with those naturally
exposed to pollination and nectar removal. Tillandsia deppeana set the same
number of seeds of the same size regardless of whether or not it had to
replenish nectar. Seeds were slightly smaller if the result of natural open
pollination than from copious hand crossing. In contrast, T. multicaulis set
about half as many seeds when it had to replenish than when it did not, indicating
a substantial cost to replenishment. There was no difference in seed number of
T. multicaulis between open and hand-augmented pollination. The contrasting
results for plants that respond strongly and positively to repeated nectar
removal suggest that the female reproductive costs of nectar replenishment can
range from costly to beneficial, depending on the conditions of the plants and
on the species