Novel Consequences of Bird Pollination for Plant Mating

Siegfried L Krauss; Ryan D Phillips; Jeffrey D Karron; Steven D Johnson; David G Roberts; Stephen D Hopper

doi:10.1016/j.tplants.2017.03.005

Novel Consequences of Bird Pollination for Plant Mating

Trends Plant Sci. 2017 May;22(5):395-410. doi: 10.1016/j.tplants.2017.03.005. Epub 2017 Apr 12.

Authors

Siegfried L Krauss¹, Ryan D Phillips², Jeffrey D Karron³, Steven D Johnson⁴, David G Roberts⁵, Stephen D Hopper⁶

Affiliations

¹ Kings Park and Botanic Garden, Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority, Fraser Avenue, Kings Park, WA 6005, Australia; School of Plant Biology, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia. Electronic address: skrauss@bgpa.wa.gov.au.
² Kings Park and Botanic Garden, Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority, Fraser Avenue, Kings Park, WA 6005, Australia; School of Plant Biology, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia; Ecology and Evolution, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
³ Department of Biological Sciences, PO Box 413, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI 53201, USA.
⁴ School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag X01, Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg 3209, South Africa.
⁵ Kings Park and Botanic Garden, Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority, Fraser Avenue, Kings Park, WA 6005, Australia; Centre of Excellence in Natural Resource Management and School of Plant Biology, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Terrace, Albany, WA 6330, Australia.
⁶ Centre of Excellence in Natural Resource Management and School of Plant Biology, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Terrace, Albany, WA 6330, Australia.

PMID: 28412035
DOI: 10.1016/j.tplants.2017.03.005

Abstract

Pollinator behaviour has profound effects on plant mating. Pollinators are predicted to minimise energetic costs during foraging bouts by moving between nearby flowers. However, a review of plant mating system studies reveals a mismatch between behavioural predictions and pollen-mediated gene dispersal in bird-pollinated plants. Paternal diversity of these plants is twice that of plants pollinated solely by insects. Comparison with the behaviour of other pollinator groups suggests that birds promote pollen dispersal through a combination of high mobility, limited grooming, and intra- and interspecies aggression. Future opportunities to test these predictions include seed paternity assignment following pollinator exclusion experiments, single pollen grain genotyping, new tracking technologies for small pollinators, and motion-triggered cameras and ethological experimentation for quantifying pollinator behaviour.

Keywords: multiple paternity; optimal foraging; paternity assignment; pollen carryover; pollen dispersal.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Birds / physiology*
Pollen / physiology*
Pollination / physiology*
Reproduction / physiology*