DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Quantifying pollen limitation and reproductive assurance mechanisms in Gesnariae species with contrasting pollination systems

论文研究：通过对比授粉系统量化苦苣苔科物种的花粉限制和繁殖保证机制

基本信息

批准号：
0710196
负责人：
Charles Fenster
金额：
$ 1.2万
依托单位：
University of Maryland, College Park
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Standard Grant
财政年份：
2007
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2007-05-01 至 2008-04-30
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0710196&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
DISSERTATION RESEARCH Quantifying pollen limitation

项目摘要

Animal pollination is essential for seed set in many flowering plants. However, floral visitors do not always transfer enough pollen to fertilize all seeds. This phenomenon is known as pollen limitation and to avoid it, many plants have evolved mechanisms of autonomous self-pollination. This study will quantify pollen limitation and the contribution of autonomous selfing to the seed set of Gesnerieae species with contrasting pollination systems. The Gesnerieae is a plant group that diversified in the Greater Antilles. Some species are exclusively pollinated by hummingbirds or bats, while others are generalists (e.g. bats, hummingbirds and insects). Specialist flowers receive in average one visit per day, while generalist flowers receive many visits per day. Previous work suggests a relationship between pollen limitation and the presence of selfing mechanisms with hummingbird pollination. This project is designed to corroborate this finding using twelve Gesnerieae species from Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. The research will illuminate our understanding of the processes underlying the evolution of pollination systems and selfing mechanisms in a poorly studied plant group from the Antillean islands. The development of selfing could be critical to the conservation of rare Gesnerieae species since it allows plants to reproduce in the absence of pollinators. Without the ability to self, plants could be a greater risk of extinction if pollinator populations decline. Thus, this study is of relevance to both our understanding of floral evolution and the conservation of rare and narrowly distributed plants in the fragile ecosystems of the Caribbean archipelago.

动物授粉对于许多开花植物的结籽至关重要。然而，花客并不总是传递足够的花粉来使所有种子受精。这种现象被称为花粉限制，为了避免这种现象，许多植物进化出了自主自花授粉的机制。这项研究将通过对比授粉系统来量化花粉限制以及自主自交对苦苣苔科物种种子集的贡献。苦苣苔科是大安的列斯群岛多样化的植物群。有些物种专门由蜂鸟或蝙蝠授粉，而其他物种则是通才（例如蝙蝠、蜂鸟和昆虫）。专业花卉平均每天接待一次，而综合花卉每天接待多次。先前的研究表明花粉限制与蜂鸟授粉自交机制的存在之间存在关系。该项目旨在利用来自多米尼加共和国和波多黎各的十二种苦苣苔科物种来证实这一发现。这项研究将阐明我们对安的列斯群岛一个研究不足的植物群授粉系统和自交机制进化过程的理解。自交的发展对于保护稀有苦苣苔科物种至关重要，因为它允许植物在没有传粉者的情况下繁殖。如果授粉媒介数量减少，如果没有自我能力，植物可能面临更大的灭绝风险。因此，这项研究与我们对花卉进化的理解以及加勒比群岛脆弱生态系统中稀有且分布范围狭窄的植物的保护相关。