Do flowers removed of either nectar or pollen attract fewer bumblebee pollinators? An experimental test in Impatiens oxyanthera.

ABSTRACT: Pollen and nectar are the primary rewards offered by flowers to pollinators. In floral visitors of some plant species, pollen thieves and nectar robbers cause the reduction in pollen grain number and nectar volume, respectively. However, it remains unclear whether the absence of either of the two rewards in a given flower reduces its attraction to nectar- and pollen-collecting pollinators. We hypothesized that flowers removed of either nectar or pollen would attract fewer pollinators. We studied protandrous Impatiens oxyanthera, whose flowers provide bumblebee pollinators with both nectar and pollen in the male phase. We conducted floral reward manipulation experiments to explore how the removal of either nectar or pollen from flowers influences pollinator behaviour by comparing the

SUBMITTER: Li DF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8255076 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature