AI Article Synopsis
- The study explores the phenomenon of ombrophily, or rain splash pollination, in the orchid Acampe rigida, highlighting its unique adaptation for reproductive success during the rainy season.
- Observations revealed that raindrops effectively trigger the release of pollinia, allowing for self-pollination without damaging the flowers or pollen, enabling the plant to maintain high fecundity despite low pollinator availability.
- Field experiments showed that rain pollination significantly increased fruit set, although its effectiveness varied by location, indicating that this method provides a reliable reproductive strategy while also leaving open the possibility for genetic diversity through outcrossing.
Article Abstract
Background And Aims: Abiotic pollination by wind or water is well established in flowering plants. In some species pollination by rain splashes, a condition known as ombrophily, has been proposed as a floral strategy. However, evidence for this type of abiotic pollination has remained controversial and many reported cases have subsequently been shown to be false. This study investigates ombrophily in the deceptive orchid Acampe rigida to determine the mechanism by which this species is able to maintain high fecundity, despite flowering during the rainy season in south-west China when pollinators are scarce.
Methods: The floral mechanisms promoting rain pollination in A. rigida were observed and described in detail. Controlled pollination experiments and observations of floral visitors were conducted. A field experiment using rain shelters at 14 sites in Guangxi, south-west China, evaluated the contribution of rain pollination to fruit-set.
Key Results: During rainfall, raindrops physically flicked away the anther cap exposing the pollinarium. Raindrops then caused pollinia to be ejected upwards with the strap-like stipe pulling them back and causing them to fall into the stigmatic cavity, resulting in self-pollination. Neither flower nor pollen function were damaged by water. Although A. rigida is self-compatible, it is incapable of autonomous self-pollination without the assistance of rain splashes. The results of the rain-sheltering experiment indicated that rain pollination contributed substantially to increasing fruit-set, although there was variation among sites in the intensity of this effect.
Conclusions: A. rigida flowers during the rainy season, when pollinators are scarce, and ombrophily functions to provide reproductive assurance without compromising opportunities for outcrossing.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3448421 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcs165 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Natural selection on floral volatiles and other traits can change with snowmelt timing and summer precipitation.
New Phytol
January 2025
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine, CA, 92697, USA.
Climate change is disrupting floral traits that mediate mutualistic and antagonistic species interactions. Plastic responses of these traits to multiple shifting conditions may be adaptive, depending on natural selection in new environments. We manipulated snowmelt date over three seasons (3-11 d earlier) in factorial combination with growing-season precipitation (normal, halved, or doubled) to measure plastic responses of volatile emissions and other floral traits in Ipomopsis aggregata.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe behavioural responses of bumblebees to simulated rain.
R Soc Open Sci
May 2024
School of Biological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK.
Bumblebee activity typically decreases during rainfall, putting them under the threat of the increased frequency of precipitation due to climate change. A novel rain machine was used within a flight arena to observe the behavioural responses of bumblebees () to simulated rain at both a colony and individual level. During rainfall, a greater proportion of workers left the arena than entered, the opposite of which was seen during dry periods, implying that they compensate for their lack of activity when conditions improve.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSuccessive stamen movement in Saxifraga candelabrum is responsive to weather and pollinator visits.
Mov Ecol
June 2024
School of Resources and Environmental Science, Hubei University, Wuhan, 430062, China.
Background: Successive stamen movement is a complex plant behavior involving successive uplift of stamens and pollen release, which plays a role in reducing sexual interference, increasing pollen deposition and promoting pollen export. Although reported from several taxa, studies on whether the movement can be influenced by abiotic and biotic factors are scarce.
Methods: In this study, we here for the first time described a pattern of successive stamen movement in Saxifraga candelabrum (Saxifragaceae).
Multifunctionality of angiosperm floral bracts: a review.
Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc
June 2024
Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia/Yunnan Key Laboratory for Integrative Conservation of Plant Species with Extremely Small Populations, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 132 Lanhei Road, Kunming, 650201, China.
Floral bracts (bracteoles, cataphylls) are leaf-like organs that subtend flowers or inflorescences but are of non-floral origin; they occur in a wide diversity of species, representing multiple independent origins, and exhibit great variation in form and function. Although much attention has been paid to bracts over the past 150 years, our understanding of their adaptive significance remains remarkably incomplete. This is because most studies of bract function and evolution focus on only one or a few selective factors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUse of pollen assemblages as forensic evidence in non-seasonal high-altitude soils.
Sci Justice
January 2024
Faculty of Biology, iomE, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Hans-Dieter-Hüsch-Weg 15, Mainz, Germany. Electronic address:
Forensic palynology is a tool in criminalistics that uses spores and pollen grains to link a certain geographical location with a crime scene. The comparison of the pollen assemblage of a crime-scene soil and that of footwear of suspects and victims proved to be very useful as judicial evidence in multiple environments with marked seasonality. However, its usefulness in non-seasonal high-altitude soils has not been experimentally evaluated to the same extent.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!