Pollination biology of Harrisia portoricensis (Cactaceae), an endangered Caribbean species

Traits associated with self-pollination are common features of island plant communities. In this work, we studied the pollination biology and the breeding system of Harrisia portoricensis, an island columnar cactus, to test for the presence of inbreeding and inbreeding depression. For H. portoricens...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of botany 2009-12, Vol.96 (12), p.2270-2278
Main Authors: Rojas-Sandoval, Julissa, Meléndez-Ackerman, Elvia
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anthers
Biology
Botany
Breeding
breeding system
Cactaceae
Cactus
Caribbean
columnar cactus
floral traits
Flower stigma
Flowers
Germination
Harrisia portoricensis
Mona Island
Morphology
Plant reproduction
Plants
Pollen
Pollination
pollination biology
Reproductive Biology
seed germination
Self pollination
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Summary:Traits associated with self-pollination are common features of island plant communities. In this work, we studied the pollination biology and the breeding system of Harrisia portoricensis, an island columnar cactus, to test for the presence of inbreeding and inbreeding depression. For H. portoricensis, which bears flowers with typical outcrossing morphology, the results from 322 h of direct observations and videotaping showed that visits to flowers by animals were uncommon. Controlled pollinations demonstrated that H. portoricensis has a partially self-compatible breeding system that it is not autogamous and thus requires an external mechanism for the movement of pollen to set fruit. We detected differences in seed size, seed mass, germination success, and multiplicative fitness estimates between self- and cross-pollination treatments. We found that progeny resulting from natural and self-pollination treatments showed signs of inbreeding depression compared with progeny resulting from cross-pollination; however, the magnitude of the inbreeding depression was less than 50%. Our combined results suggest that for this species an endogamous breeding system should be favored by natural selection.
ISSN:0002-9122
1537-2197
DOI:10.3732/ajb.0900026