Abstract Detail



Symbioses: Plant, Animal, and Microbe Interactions

Curran, Bridget [1], Jolles, Diana [2].

Fine tuning the buzz pollination syndrome: using regional buzz profiling to understand the plant-pollinator relationship.

New England is host to approximately 80 flowering plant species in five families with poricid anthers that appear to use buzz pollination as a primary mode of reproduction. Among these is a wide variety of floral morphologies, possibly adapted to different bee foraging behaviors. We tested the hypothesis that there are groups of plants species with similar floral morphologies corresponding to specific foraging (i.e., “buzzing”) behaviors. We used linear regression, multiple factor analysis, and analysis of variance to better understand the relationships between anther morphology and several other floral and environmental characteristics. Additionally, we recorded buzz pollination frequency, amplitude, and duration for a small subset of the plant species in the field to determine whether buzzing characteristics were associated with specific floral forms.Patterns that emerge from our findings irrespective of familial relationships are (1) a close relationship between anther and perianth morphologies, (2) a negative relationship between anther length and pore diameter, and (3) significant differences in buzzing characteristics among several species. Because buzz pollinated plant species occur in a wide variety of habitats and range from common to rare, basic knowledge about how bees are interacting with these species in New England will foster a greater understanding of community interactions and the consequences of disturbance like habitat fragmentation and type conversion.


1 - Plymouth State University, Department Of Biological Sciences, 17 High Street, MSC48, Plymouth, NH, 03264, United States
2 - Plymouth State University, Biological Sciences, 17 High Street, Msc 48, Plymouth, NH, 03264, United States

Keywords:
pollination
poricidal anthers
morphology
Bombus
sonication.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: SYMB1, Symbioses: Plant, Animal, and Microbe Interactions I
Location: Virtual/Virtual
Date: Tuesday, July 28th, 2020
Time: 1:15 PM
Number: SYMB1004
Abstract ID:665
Candidate for Awards:None


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