Shrubs as magnets for pollination: A test of facilitation and reciprocity in a shrub-annual facilitation system.

ABSTRACT: The magnet species hypothesis proposes that flowering plants that are attractive to pollinators can increase the relative pollination rates of neighbouring plants by acting as 'magnets.' Here, we test the hypothesis that insect-pollinated shrub species Larrea tridentata and wind-pollinated shrub species Ambrosia dumosa act as magnets for the pollinator visitation of understory annual plant species in an arid ecosystem. As an extension to the magnet species hypothesis, we propose the double magnet species hypothesis in which we further test for reciprocity by the floral island created in the understory of the benefactor shrubs as an additional pollinator magnet for the shrub itself. We used an annual plant placed near each shrub and the open to measure the effect of shrubs on

SUBMITTER: Ruttan A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9387484 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature