Spatio-temporal patterns of snowmelt and flowering times affect fruiting success in Erythronium grandiflorum Pursh (Liliaceae) in subalpine western Colorado, USA. From 1990 to 1995, I measured the consistency across years of snowmelt patterns and flowering times along a permanent transect. In most years since 1993, I have monitored fruit set in temporal cohorts (early- to late-flowering groups ...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS In the UK, the flowers of fruit-bearing hedgerow plants provide a succession of pollen and nectar for flower-visiting insects for much of the year. The fruits of hedgerow plants are a source of winter food for frugivorous birds on farmland. It is unclear whether recent declines in pollinator populations are likely to threaten fruit-set and hence food supply for birds. The pr...

Most heterostylous plants possess a reciprocal arrangement of stigmas and anthers (reciprocal herkogamy), heteromorphic self-incompatibility, and ancillary polymorphisms of pollen and stigmas. The topographical complementarity hypothesis proposes that ancillary polymorphisms function in the rejection of incompatible pollen thus promoting disassortative pollination. Here, we test this hypothesis...

Ecological invasions are a major issue worldwide, where successful invasion depends on traits that facilitate dispersion, establishment, and population growth. The nonnative succulent plant Kalanchoe pinnata, reported as invasive in some countries, is widespread in remnants of seasonally dry tropical forest on a volcanic outcrop with high conservation value in east-central Mexico where we asses...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Few studies have examined the dynamics of specialist plant-pollinator interactions at a geographical scale. This knowledge is crucial for a more general evolutionary and ecological understanding of specialized plant-pollinator systems. In the present study, variations in pollinator activity, assemblage composition and pollen limitation were explored in the oil-producing spec...

A sensitive bilobed stigma is thought to assure reproduction, avoid selfing and promote outcrossing. In addition, it may also play a role in pollinator selection since only pollinators with the appropriate body size can trigger this mechanism. However, no experimental study has investigated how the sensitive stigma responds to different pollinators and its potential effects on pollination. Mazu...

The extracellular matrix of stylar transmitting tissues of many angiosperms is enriched in secretory materials that are believed to be important for interactions with pollen tubes. We have previously characterized two related cDNAs (TTS-1 and TTS-2) for stylar transmitting tissue-specific proline-rich proteins (TTS proteins) from Nicotiana tabacum. We show here that TTS proteins are highly glyc...

Pollination systems are composed of flowering plants and flower visitors, engaging into mutualistic interactions. However, the flower visitors include true pollinators, which pollinate the flower by visiting it through the legitimate way, and also by cheaters, which use the flower′s resources (e.g. nectar and pollen) without pollinating it or been just marginally efficient on pollination. On th...