Flower movement balances pollinator needs and pollen protection

Baldwin, Ian T.; Yon, Felipe; Haverkamp, Alexander; Hansson, Bill S.; Li, Xiang; Knaden, Markus

dc.contributor.author	Haverkamp, Alexander
dc.contributor.author	Li, Xiang
dc.contributor.author	Hansson, Bill S.
dc.contributor.author	Baldwin, Ian T.
dc.contributor.author	Knaden, Markus
dc.contributor.author	Yon, Felipe
dc.date.accessioned	2018-11-30T03:10:46Z
dc.date.available	2018-11-30T03:10:46Z
dc.date.issued	2018
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12866/4073
dc.description.abstract	Flower signaling and orientation are key characteristics that determine a flower's pollinator guild. However, many flowers actively move during their daily cycle, changing both their detectability and accessibility to pollinators. The flowers of the wild tobacco Nicotiana attenuata orientate their corolla upward at sunset and downward after sunrise. Here, we investigated the effect of different flower orientations on a major pollinator of N. attenuata, the hawkmoth Manduca sexta. We found that although flower orientation influenced the flight altitude of the moth in respect to the flower, it did not alter the moth's final flower choice. These behavioral observations were consistent with the finding that orientation did not systematically change the spatial distribution of floral volatiles, which are major attractants for the moths. Moreover, hawkmoths invested the same amount of time into probing flowers at different orientations, even though they were only able to feed and gather pollen from horizontally and upward-oriented flowers, but not from downward-facing flowers. The orientation of the flower was hence crucial for a successful interaction between N. attenuata and its hawkmoth pollinator. Additionally, we also investigated potential adverse effects of exposing flowers at different orientations to natural daylight levels, finding that anther temperature of upward-oriented flowers was more than 7°C higher than for downward-oriented flowers. This increase in temperature likely caused the significantly reduced germination success that was observed for pollen grains from upward-oriented flowers in comparison to those of downward and horizontally oriented flowers. These results highlight the importance of flower reorientation to balance pollen protection and a successful interaction of the plant with its insect pollinators by maintaining the association between flower volatiles and flower accessibility to the pollinator.	en_US
dc.language.iso	eng
dc.publisher	Wiley
dc.relation.ispartofseries	Ecology
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess
dc.rights.uri	https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.es
dc.subject	flower handling	en_US
dc.subject	flower orientation	en_US
dc.subject	Manduca	en_US
dc.subject	Nicotiana	en_US
dc.subject	pollen viability	en_US
dc.subject	pollination	en_US
dc.title	Flower movement balances pollinator needs and pollen protection	en_US
dc.type	info:eu-repo/semantics/article
dc.identifier.doi	https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2553
dc.subject.ocde	https://purl.org/pe-repo/ocde/ford#1.06.13
dc.relation.issn	1939-9170