Short flowers for long tongues: Functional specialization in a nocturnal pollination network of an asclepiad in long-tongued hawkmoths
dc.contributor.author | Amorim, Felipe W. [UNESP] | |
dc.contributor.author | Marino, Salvador | |
dc.contributor.author | Sanz-Veiga, Priscila Andre [UNESP] | |
dc.contributor.author | Ollerton, Jeff | |
dc.contributor.author | Oliveira, Paulo Eugênio | |
dc.contributor.institution | Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) | |
dc.contributor.institution | CONICET and Universidad Nacional de Córdoba | |
dc.contributor.institution | University of Northampton | |
dc.contributor.institution | Universidade Federal de Uberlândia (UFU) | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2022-04-28T19:52:50Z | |
dc.date.available | 2022-04-28T19:52:50Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2022-01-01 | |
dc.description.abstract | Since Darwin, very long and narrow floral tubes have been known to represent the main floral morphological feature for specialized long-tongued hawkmoth pollination. However, specialization may be driven by other contrivances instead of floral tube morphology. Asclepiads are plants with a complex floral morphology where primary hawkmoth pollination had never been described. We detailed here the intricate pollination mechanism of the South American asclepiad Schubertia grandiflora, where functional specialization on long-tongued hawkmoth pollinators occurs despite the short floral tube of this species. We studied two plant populations in the Brazilian Cerrado and recorded floral visitors using different approaches, such as light-trapped hawkmoths for pollen analysis, direct field observations, and IR motion-activated cameras. Finally, using a community-level approach we applied an ecological network analysis to identify the realized pollinator niche of S. grandiflora among the available niches in the pollinator community. Throughout a period of 17 years, long-tongued hawkmoths were consistently recorded as the main floral visitors and the only effective pollinators of S. grandiflora. Flowers rely on highly modified corona and gynostegium, and enlarged nectar chambers, to drive visitors and pollination mechanism. Despite its relative short-tube, network analysis placed S. grandiflora in the module including exclusively long-tongued hawkmoth pollinators and the most phenotypically specialized sphingophilous plants in the community. These results represent the first example of functional specialization in long-tongued hawkmoths in an asclepiad species. However, this specialization is uncoupled from the long floral tubes historically associated with the sphingophily syndrome. Abstract in Portuguese is available with online material. | en |
dc.description.affiliation | Laboratório de Ecologia da Polinização e Interações (LEPI) Programa de Pós-graduação em Botânica Programa de Pós-graduação em Zoologia Instituto de Biociências Universidade Estadual Paulista, SP | |
dc.description.affiliation | Laboratorio de Ecología Evolutiva y Biología Floral Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal (IMBIV) CONICET and Universidad Nacional de Córdoba | |
dc.description.affiliation | Faculty of Arts Science and Technology University of Northampton | |
dc.description.affiliation | Instituto de Biologia Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, MG | |
dc.description.affiliationUnesp | Laboratório de Ecologia da Polinização e Interações (LEPI) Programa de Pós-graduação em Botânica Programa de Pós-graduação em Zoologia Instituto de Biociências Universidade Estadual Paulista, SP | |
dc.identifier | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/btp.13090 | |
dc.identifier.citation | Biotropica. | |
dc.identifier.doi | 10.1111/btp.13090 | |
dc.identifier.issn | 1744-7429 | |
dc.identifier.issn | 0006-3606 | |
dc.identifier.scopus | 2-s2.0-85127371984 | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/11449/223742 | |
dc.language.iso | eng | |
dc.relation.ispartof | Biotropica | |
dc.source | Scopus | |
dc.subject | Apocynaceae | |
dc.subject | Asclepiadoideae | |
dc.subject | Cerrado | |
dc.subject | ecological networks | |
dc.subject | floral specialization | |
dc.subject | hawkmoth pollination | |
dc.subject | nectar | |
dc.subject | pollinator niche | |
dc.title | Short flowers for long tongues: Functional specialization in a nocturnal pollination network of an asclepiad in long-tongued hawkmoths | en |
dc.type | Artigo | |
dspace.entity.type | Publication | |
unesp.author.orcid | 0000-0002-6026-0395[1] | |
unesp.author.orcid | 0000-0002-7096-2411[3] | |
unesp.author.orcid | 0000-0002-0887-8235[4] | |
unesp.author.orcid | 0000-0002-6162-8702[5] |