Plant Reproductive Success Mediated by Nectar Offered to Pollinators and Defensive Ants in Terrestrial Bromeliaceae.

ABSTRACT: Most plants produce floral nectar to attract pollinators that impact pollination and seed production; some of them also secrete extrafloral nectar harvested by insects that may influence the plant reproductive success. The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of excluding pollinators and/or ants on the per-plant reproductive success in two species (Dyckia floribunda Griseb. and Dyckia longipetala Baker, Bromeliaceae) that produce floral and extrafloral nectar. The hypothesis states that both ecological processes (pollination and ant defense) involving nectar-mediated animal-plant interactions are beneficial for plant reproductive success. We expected the highest decrease in the plant fruit and seed sets when the pollinators and ants were excluded, and a moderate decre

SUBMITTER: Torres C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10891524 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature