Floral traits driving reproductive isolation of two co-flowering taxa that share vertebrate pollinators

• Published in: AoB plants 2015-11, Vol.7, p.plv127
• Main Authors: Queiroz, Joel A., Quirino, Zelma G. M., Machado, Isabel C.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Plant reproduction
• ISSN: 2041-2851; 2041-2851
• DOI: 10.1093/aobpla/plv127

We investigated pollination in two plants that shared the same pollinators (bats and hummingbirds), overlapped in flowering and showed similarities in floral traits, favouring the mixture of pollen and the loss of plant genetic material. However, floral length differences between the plants enabled pollen deposition on different parts of the body of pollinators, reducing the mixture of pollen. In addition, differences in the opening times of the flowers can explain the more effective pollination by bats in one of the plants and by hummingbirds in the other. This trend to pollinator specialization may favour the coexistence of these plants. Abstract Floral attributes evolve in response to frequent and efficient pollinators, which are potentially important drivers of floral diversification and reproductive isolation. In this context, we asked, how do flowers evolve in a bat–hummingbird pollination system? Hence, we investigated the pollination ecology of two co-flowering Ipomoea taxa (I. marcellia and I. aff. marcellia) pollinated by bats and hummingbirds, and factors favouring reproductive isolation and pollinator sharing in these plants. To identify the most important drivers of reproductive isolation, we compared the flowers of the two Ipomoea taxa in terms of morphometry, anthesis and nectar production. Pollinator services were assessed using frequency of visits, fruit set and the number of seeds per fruit after visits. The studied Ipomoea taxa differed in corolla size and width, beginning and duration of anthesis, and nectar attributes. However, they shared the same diurnal and nocturnal visitors. The hummingbird Heliomaster squamosus was more frequent in I. marcellia (1.90 visits h−1) than in I. aff. marcellia (0.57 visits h−1), whereas glossophagine bats showed similar visit rates in both taxa (I. marcellia: 0.57 visits h−1 and I. aff. marcellia: 0.64 visits h−1). Bat pollination was more efficient in I. aff. marcellia, whereas pollination by hummingbirds was more efficient in I. marcellia. Differences in floral attributes between Ipomoea taxa, especially related to the anthesis period, length of floral parts and floral arrangement in the inflorescence, favour reproductive isolation from congeners through differential pollen placement on pollinators. This bat–hummingbird pollination system seems to be advantageous in the study area, where the availability of pollinators and floral resources changes considerably throughout the year, mainly as a result