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Pollen limitation, resource limitation, fruit abortion, and predation have all been proposed as factors explaining low fruit set in hermaphroditic plants. We conducted a 5-year study combining field observations and pollination experiments to determine the causes of the low fruit set in Aristolochia paucinervis, a Mediterranean species with a specialized pollination system in two populations in SW Spain. Fruit initiation was markedly low, and between 28.6 and 75.0% of the flowering stems did not initiate any fruit. In most flowers, the number of germinated pollen grains was less than the number of ovules, and supplemental pollination significantly increased fruiting, indicating deficient pollination. In A. paucinervis, autonomous self- pollination seems to be a decisive factor in fruit production because the number of germinated pollen and the fruit set from flowers bagged before anthesis were similar to those in free-pollinated flowers. Only in 2005 did flowers that were successfully pollinated outnumber ripened fruits, suggesting that other factors limit fruiting. We found a significant positive correlation between tuber mass and fruit set. Deficient pollination and lack of resources could explain the low fruit set, but the relative consequences seem to vary spatially and temporarily. Key words: Aristolochia paucinervis; Aristolochiaceae; autonomous self-pollination; fruit set; multi-year study; pollen limitation; resource limitation; Spain.

The distance of explosive dispersal, its pattern in time, and the relative importance of autochory have been studied in two diplochorous species: Euphorbia boetica and E. nicaeensis. The seeds of E. boetica released by explosive dispersal reached a median distance of 156 cm and a maximum of almost 8 m, while the distances reached by the seeds of E. nicaeensis were lower: a median of 132 cm and a maximum of 5 m. The differences in explosive dispersal distance between species seem to depend on both seed mass and caruncle retention. The seeds of both species present a caruncle, but in E. boetica this is tiny, and in most cases is shed during the explosion of the capsules. The distances reached by the seeds of these species, dispersed just by capsule explosion, were similar to or greater than the distances to which ants disperse seeds in the Mediterranean sclerophyllous vegetation. Diplochorous plants may maximize either the distance of primary dispersal or that of secondary dispersal. Given that the seeds of E. boetica, that lose their caruncles, are not gathered by myrmecochorous ants, the results suggest that E. boetica maximizes its primary dispersal distance, whereas E. nicaeensis favors its secondary dispersal. Key words: caruncle; diplochory; Euphorbia nicaeensis; Euphorbia boetica; explosive dispersal.

The high variability observed in floral traits has been interpreted as resulting from the adaptation of plants to pollinators, as the latter present innate preferences for specific floral traits and impose selection over them. However, some pollinators such as bees can learn to associate floral signals with rewards, thus increasing floral constancy on more rewarding flowers. The integration of all these rewards and cues is markedly important at community level, where co‐flowering species compete for pollinators.In order to verify the honesty of the above‐mentioned signals, we examined the association between floral visual signals (size, colour, symmetry and floral display) and rewards (pollen and nectar) for 98 species in a Mediterranean community. The associations between floral traits were analysed considering the phylogenetic relationship between the different species.Flower colour, size, pollen volume or amount of sucrose exhibited no phylogenetic signal, which suggests an adaptive evolution in response to different conditions in the pollinator community. Flower size was seen to constitute the most honest signal for pollinators, as this was significantly associated with quantities of pollen and nectar. In contrast, nectar concentration was observed to be positively associated with chromatic contrast. We detected no relationship between flower shape and rewards, on the one hand, nor between flower display and rewards, on the other.Our study unequivocally demonstrates the correlation between rewards and the visual signals perceived by bees, the most effective pollinators in the Mediterranean Basin. In the community studied, bees employed flower size at longer distances and chromatic contrast at shorter distances to predict rewards. The limited number of studies existing in this sense indicates that this kind of association appears to be community specific. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mycorrhizae are widespread mutualistic symbioses crucial for the functioning of terrestial ecosystems. Not all plants associate with mycorrhizae; most parasitic plants have been siggested to be nonmycorrhizal because they have developed alterantive strategies to obtain nutrients. In endophytiv parasitic plants, whose vegetative bodies grow completely inside their mycorrhizal host roots, the opportunity for establishing a tripartite association seems evident, but information on these systems is lacking. In studying natural associationc among hte endophytic holoparasite Cytinud hypocistis, their Cistaceae host species, and associated mycorhizal fungi, we found that mycorrhizae were associated wiht the hosts and the parasires, reaching high frequencies of colonization. In parasitic and host root tissues, mycorrhizal fungi spread in the parenchymatic cells by intracellular growth and formed hyphal coils and vesicles, while the cambium and the vascular tissues were never colonized. This report is the first on a tripatite association of an endophytic parasitic plant, its host, and nycorrhizae in natural conditions, representing a novel trophic interaction not previously reported within the angiosperms. Additional studies on the interactions occuring among these three players are needed because they may be crucial to our understanding of how this mutualistic – antagonistic system is functioning and evolving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]