Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T10:07:03.025Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Changes in pollinator assemblages following hurricanes affect the mating system of Laguncularia racemosa (Combretaceae) in Florida, USA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 May 2013

Carol L. Landry*
Affiliation:
Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University, Mansfield, Ohio, USA
*
Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]

Abstract:

Hurricanes are major disturbance events in Neotropical mangrove communities, potentially affecting the reproductive success of mangrove species. This was the first investigation of changes in mangrove pollinator assemblages following hurricanes, and the effect of these changes on the mating system of Laguncularia racemosa. Insect pollinator assemblages were investigated in three Florida mangrove communities in 2001–2003, 2005 and 2009; two hurricanes affected the area in 2004. Visitation rates were estimated from 1445 insects observed during 272 10-min intervals; the number of flowers visited by each insect was also recorded. Pollinator diversity was estimated with the Shannon Index. Following the hurricanes, species richness was reduced by 43–65% and diversity declined by 36–70%. Significant declines in insect visitation to L. racemosa resulted in reduced outcrossing frequencies in 2005. Laguncularia racemosa flowers autogamously self-pollinate without insect visitors, so fruit set still occurred. Visitation rates returned to pre-hurricane levels by 2009, but foraging behaviours differed from pre-hurricane patterns; outcrossing was further favoured by reduced frequencies of long foraging bouts and increased frequencies of short foraging bouts. The mixed mating system of L. racemosa provides reproductive assurance following hurricane disturbances, when pollinator abundance is low.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

LITERATURE CITED

ASHMAN, T.-L., KNIGHT, T. M., STEETS, J. A., AMARASEKARE, P., BURD, M., CAMPBELL, D. R., DUDASH, M. R., JOHNSTON, M. O., MAZER, S. J., MITCHELL, R. J., MORGAN, M. T. & WILSON, W. G. 2004. Pollen limitation of plant reproduction: ecological and evolutionary causes and consequences. Ecology 85:24082421.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ATTIWILL, P. M. 1994. The disturbance of forest ecosystems: the ecological basis for conservation management. Forest Ecology and Management 63:247300.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BEVIN, J. L. 2004. Tropical cyclone report: Hurricane Frances 25 August–8 September 2004. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – National Hurricane Center, Miami. 28 pp.Google Scholar
BRONSTEIN, J. L. & HOSSAERT-MCKEY, M. 1995. Hurricane Andrew and a Florida fig pollination mutualism: resilience of an obligate interaction. Biotropica 27:373381.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BUREAU OF PLANT AND APIARY INSPECTION. 2008. Annual report. Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Gainesville. 33 pp.Google Scholar
CAMERON, S. A., WHITFIELD, J. B., HULSLANDER, C. L., CRESKO, W. A., ISENBERG, S. B. & KING, R. W. 1996. Nesting biology and foraging patterns of the solitary bee Melissodes rustica (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in northwest Arkansas. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 69(Supplement 2):260273.Google Scholar
CANE, J. H. 1997. Violent weather and bees: populations of the barrier island endemic, Hesperapis oraria (Hymenoptera: Melittidae) survive a category 3 hurricane. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 70:7375.Google Scholar
GANDHI, K. J. K., Gilmore, D. W., KATOVICH, S. A., MATTSON, W. J., SPENCE, J. R. & SEYBOLD, S. J. 2007. Physical effects of weather events on the abundance and diversity of insects in North American forests. Environmental Reviews 15:113152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
GARDNER, L. R., MICHENER, W. K., WILLIAMS, T. M., BLOOD, E. R., KJERVE, B., SMOCK, L. A., LIPSCOMB, D. J. & GRESHAM, C. 1992. Disturbance effects of Hurricane Hugo on a pristine coastal landscape: North Inlet, South Carolina, USA. Netherlands Journal of Sea Research 30:249263.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
GENARO, J. A. 1998. Behaviour of Sphex jamaicensis during nesting and notes on S. mandibularis and S. cubensis (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae). Caribbean Journal of Science 34:238242.Google Scholar
GERLING, D. & HERMANN, H. R. 1978. Biology and mating behaviour of Xylocopa virginica L. (Hymenoptera, Anthophoridae). Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology 3:99111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
GOULSON, D. 2003. Effects of introduced bees on native ecosystems. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 34:126.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
GOULSON, D. & SPARROW, K. R. 2009. Evidence for competition between honeybees and bumblebees; effects on bumblebee worker size. Journal of Insect Conservation 13:177181.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
IMBERT, D., LABBE, P. & ROUSTEAU, A. 1996. Hurricane damage and forest structure in Guadeloupe, French West Indies. Journal of Tropical Ecology 12:663680.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
KARRON, J. D., HOLMQUIST, K. G., FLANAGAN, R. J. & MITCHELL, R. J. 2009. Pollinator visitation patterns strongly influence among-flower variation in selfing rate. Annals of Botany 103:13791383.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
KOPTUR, S., RODRIGUEZ, M. C., OBERBAURER, S. F., WEEKLEY, C. & HERNDON, A. 2002. Herbivore-free time? Damage to new leaves of woody plants after Hurricane Andrew. Biotropica 34:547554.Google Scholar
KROMBEIN, K. V., HURD, P. D., SMITH, D. R. & BURKE, B. D. 1979. Catalog of Hymenoptera in America North of Mexico. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC. 681 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LANDRY, C. L. 2005. Androdioecy in white mangrove (Laguncularia racemosa): maintenance of a rare breeding system through plant–pollinator interactions. PhD Dissertation, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. 166 pp.Google Scholar
LANDRY, C. L. 2011. Changes in the pollination ecology of white mangrove following Hurricane Wilma (2005). Pp. 7785 in Cole, E. & Baxter, J. (eds.). The Proceedings of the 13th International Symposium on the Natural History of the Bahamas. Gerace Research Centre, San Salvador Island.Google Scholar
LANDRY, C. L. & RATHCKE, B. J. 2007. Do inbreeding depression and relative male fitness explain the maintenance of androdioecy in white mangrove, Laguncularia racemosa (Combretaceae)? New Phytologist 176:891901.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
LANDRY, C. L. & RATHCKE, B. J. 2012. Insect visitation rates and foraging patterns differ in androdioecious and hermaphrodite-only populations of Laguncularia racemosa (Combretaceae) in Florida. Journal of Tropical Ecology 28:343351.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LANDRY, C. L., RATHCKE, B. J. & KASS, L. B. 2009. Distribution of androdioecious and hermaphroditic populations of the mangrove Laguncularia racemosa (Combretaceae) in Florida and the Bahamas. Journal of Tropical Ecology 25:7583.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LAWRENCE, M. B. & COBB, H. D. 2005. Tropical cyclone report: Hurricane Jeanne 13–28 September 2004. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – National Hurricane Center, Miami. 20 pp.Google Scholar
MAIER, C. T. 1982. Larval habitats and mate-seeking sites of flower flies (Diptera: Syrphidae, Eristalinae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 84:603609.Google Scholar
MAIER, C. T. 1987. New distributional and rearing records for neotropical flower flies (Diptera: Syrphidae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 89:369.Google Scholar
MICHENER, C. D. 1974. The social behaviour of the bees. Harvard University Press, Cambridge. 404 pp.Google Scholar
PAINI, D. R. & ROBERTS, J. D. 2005. Commercial honey bees (Apis mellifera) reduce the fecundity of an Australian native bee (Hylaeus alcyoneus). Biological Conservation 123:103112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
PASCARELLA, J. B. 1998. Hurricane disturbance, plant–animal interactions, and the reproductive success of a tropical shrub. Biotropica 30:416424.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
POTTS, S. G., PETANIDOU, T., ROBERTS, S., O'TOOLE, C., HULBERT, A. & WILLMER, P. 2004. Plant-pollinator biodiversity and pollination services in a complex Mediterranean landscape. Biological Conservation 129:519529.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
RATHCKE, B. J. 2000. Hurricane causes resource and pollination limitation of fruit set in a bird-pollinated shrub. Ecology 81:19511958.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
RATHCKE, B. J. 2001. Pollination and predation limit fruit set in a shrub, Bourreria succulenta (Boraginaceae), after hurricanes on San Salvador Island, Bahamas. Biotropica 33:330338.Google Scholar
RATHCKE, B. J. & LANDRY, C. L. 2003. Dispersal and recruitment of white mangrove on San Salvador Island, Bahamas after Hurricane Floyd. Pp. 3440 in Smith, D. L. & Smith, S. (eds.). Proceedings of the 9th symposium on the natural history of the Bahamas. Gerace Research Center, San Salvador Island.Google Scholar
RIVERA-MARCHAND, B. & ACKERMAN, J. D. 2006. Bat pollination breakdown in the Caribbean columnar cactus Pilosocereus royenii. Biotropica 38:635642.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ROUBIK, D. W. & VILLANUEVA-GUTIERREZ, R. 2009. Invasive Africanized honey bee impact on native solitary bees: a pollen resource and trap nest analysis. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 98:152160.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SCHNEIDER, S. S., DEGRANDI-HOFFMAN, G. & SMITH, D. R. 2004. The African honey bee: factors contributing to a successful biological invasion. Annual Review of Entomology 49:351376.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SCHOWALTER, T. D. 1994. Invertebrate community structure and herbivory in a tropical rainforest canopy in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Hugo. Biotropica 26:312319.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SHAKLEE, R. V. 1996. Weather and climate San Salvador Island, Bahamas. Bahamian Field Station, San Salvador Island. 67 pp.Google Scholar
SHERMAN, R. E., FAHEY, T. J. & MARTINEZ, P. 2001. Hurricane impacts on a mangrove forest in the Dominican Republic: damage patterns and early recovery. Biotropica 33:393408.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SMITH, T. J., ANDERSON, G. H., BALENTINE, K., TILING, G., WARD, G. A. & WHELAN, K. R. T. 2009. Cumulative impacts of hurricanes on Florida mangrove ecosystems: sediment deposition, storm surges, and vegetation. Wetlands 29:2434.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SNOW, A. A., SPIRA, T. P., SIMPSON, R. & KLIPS, R. A. 1996. The ecology of geitonogamous pollination. Pp. 191216 in Lloyd, D. G. & Barrett, S. C. H. (eds.). Floral biology: studies on floral evolution in animal-pollinated plants. Chapman and Hall, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
THOMSON, D. 2004. Competitive interactions between the invasive European honey bee and native bumble bees. Ecology 85:458470.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
TOMLINSON, P. B. 1994. The botany of mangroves. Cambridge University Press, New York. 441 pp.Google Scholar
TORRES, J. A. 1992. Lepidoptera outbreaks in response to successional changes after the passage of Hurricane Hugo in Puerto Rico. Journal of Tropical Ecology 8:285298.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
WHELAN, R. J., AYRE, D. J. & BEYNON, F. M. 2009. The birds and the bees: pollinator behaviour and variation in the mating system of the rare shrub Grevillea macleayana. Annals of Botany 103:13951401.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
WILLIAMS, N. M., CRONE, E. E., ROULSTON, T. H., MINCKLEY, R. L., PACKER, L. & POTTS, S. G. 2010. Ecological and life-history traits predict bee species responses to environmental disturbances. Biological Conservation 143:22802291.CrossRefGoogle Scholar