Insect pollination reduces yield loss following heat stress in faba bean (Vicia faba L.).

ABSTRACT: Global food security, particularly crop fertilization and yield production, is threatened by heat waves that are projected to increase in frequency and magnitude with climate change. Effects of heat stress on the fertilization of insect-pollinated plants are not well understood, but experiments conducted primarily in self-pollinated crops, such as wheat, show that transfer of fertile pollen may recover yield following stress. We hypothesized that in the partially pollinator-dependent crop, faba bean (Vicia faba L.), insect pollination would elicit similar yield recovery following heat stress. We exposed potted faba bean plants to heat stress for 5 days during floral development and anthesis. Temperature treatments were representative of heat waves projected in the UK for the period

SUBMITTER: Bishop J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4767028 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature