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In ecological speciation, incipient species diverge due to natural selection that is ecologically based. In flowering plants, different pollinators could mediate that selection (pollinator-mediated divergent selection) or other features of the environment that differ between habitats of 2 species could do so (environment-mediated divergent selection). Although these mechanisms are well understood, they have received little rigorous testing, as few studies of divergent selection across sites of closely related species include both floral traits that influence pollination and vegetative traits that influence survival. This study employed common gardens in sites of the 2 parental species and a hybrid site, each containing advanced generation hybrids along with the parental species, to test these forms of ecological speciation in plants of the genus Ipomopsis. A total of 3 vegetative traits (specific leaf area, leaf trichomes, and photosynthetic water-use efficiency) and 5 floral traits (corolla length and width, anther insertion, petal color, and nectar production) were analyzed for impacts on fitness components (survival to flowering and seeds per flower, respectively). These traits exhibited strong clines across the elevational gradient in the hybrid zone, with narrower clines in theory reflecting stronger selection or higher genetic variance. Plants with long corollas and inserted anthers had higher seeds per flower at the Ipomopsis tenuituba site, whereas selection favored the reverse condition at the Ipomopsis aggregata site, a signature of divergent selection. In contrast, no divergent selection due to variation in survival was detected on any vegetative trait. Selection within the hybrid zone most closely resembled selection within the I. aggregata site. Across traits, the strength of divergent selection was not significantly correlated with width of the cline, which was better predicted by evolvability (standardized genetic variance). These results support the role of pollinator-mediated divergent selection in ecological speciation and illustrate the importance of genetic variance in determining divergence across hybrid zones.

ABSTRACT Plants and animals are often adorned with potentially conspicuous colours (e.g. red, yellow, orange, blue, purple). These include the dazzling colours of fruits and flowers, the brilliant warning colours of frogs, snakes, and invertebrates, and the spectacular sexually selected colours of insects, fish, birds, and lizards. Such signals are often thought to utilize pre‐existing sensitivities in the receiver's visual systems. This raises the question: what was the initial function of conspicuous colouration and colour vision? Here, we review the origins of colour vision, fruit, flowers, and aposematic and sexually selected colouration. We find that aposematic colouration is widely distributed across animals but relatively young, evolving only in the last ~150 million years (Myr). Sexually selected colouration in animals appears confined to arthropods and chordates, and is also relatively young (generally <100 Myr). Colourful flowers likely evolved ~200 million years ago (Mya), whereas colourful fruits/seeds likely evolved ~300 Mya. Colour vision (sensu lato) appears to be substantially older, and likely originated ~400–500 Mya in both arthropods and chordates. Thus, colour vision may have evolved long before extant lineages with fruit, flowers, aposematism, and sexual colour signals. We also find that there appears to have been an explosion of colour within the last ~100 Myr, including >200 origins of aposematic colouration across nine animal phyla and >100 origins of sexually selected colouration among arthropods and chordates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing ant abundance associated with climate warming has been observed in temperate ecosystems. However, how enhanced ant activity affects plant development and phenology remains unclear. In this study, individuals of a perennial forb (Potentilla tanacetifolia) during flowering with and without an ant (Proformica) nest were marked to explore the impacts of ant nests on plant growth and phenology in a temperate steppe on the Mongolian Plateau. Ant nests delayed the start and end flowering dates simultaneously and, consequently, had no effect on flowering duration. However, presence of an ant nest postponed the fruiting date of individuals. Nests further increased numbers of aborted flowers and thus decreased fruit set. These observations suggest that the delayed flowering phenology disrupted synchrony between plant reproduction and pollinators and thus reduced pollination efficiency under ant nests. Given the increasing abundance of ants with rising temperatures under climate warming, plant delayed reproductive phenology and reduced reproductive output will potentially have negative consequences for plant fitness and plant–arthropod interactions, with consequent impacts on resistance and resilience of perennial species in temperate steppes under climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecological and evolutionary changes are likely to occur rapidly when outcrossing populations experience pollinator loss. However, the number and identify of plant traits that will respond to this form of selection, as well as the overall predictability of evolutionary responses, remain unclear. We experimentally evolved 20 large replicate populations of Mimulus guttatus for 10 generations under three treatments: pure outcrossing, mixed mating (10% outcrossing) and pure selfing. These populations were founded from the same genetically diverse and outcrossing natural population. After 10 generations, all measured traits evolved with flower size, phenology, and reproductive traits diverging consistently among mating system treatments. Autogamy increased dramatically in the selfing treatment, but the magnitude of adaptation only becomes clear once inbreeding depression is factored out. Selfing treatment plants evolved reduced stigma-anther separation, and also exhibited declines in flower size and per-flower reproductive capacity. Flower size also declined in selfing populations but this was drivenmainly by inbreeding depression and cannot be attributed to adaptation towards the selfing syndrome. Generally, the mixed mating populations evolved trait values intermediate to the fully selfing and outcrossing populations. Overall, our experimental treatments reiterated differences that have been documented in interspecific comparisons between selfing and outcrossing species pairs. Given that such contrasts involve species separated by thousands or even millions of generations, it is noteworthy that large evolutionary responses were obtained from genetic variation segregating within a single natural population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant‐pollinator interactions exist along a continuum from complete specialisation to highly generalised, that may vary in time and space. A long‐held assumption is that large bees are usually the most effective pollinators of generalist plants. We tested this by studying the relative importance of different groups of pollinators of Knautia arvensis (L.) Coult. (Caprifoliaceae: Dipsacoideae). This plant is suitable for such a study because it attracts a diversity of flower visitors, belonging to different functional groups. We asked whether all functional groups of pollinators are equally effective, or if one group is most effective, which has been documented in other species with apparently generalised pollination systems. We studied two subpopulations of K. arvensis, one at low and one at high density in Northampton, UK. To assess pollinator importance we exposed unvisited inflorescences to single visits by different groups of pollinators (butterflies, bumblebees, hoverflies and others) and assessed the proportion of pollinated stigmas. We then multiplied the effectiveness of each pollinator group with their proportional visitation frequency in five different years. For each group we also compared time spent on flowers and flight distance between visits. The relative importance of each pollinator group varied between years, as did their flight distances between flower visits. Butterflies were the best pollinators on a per visit basis (in terms of the proportion of stigmas pollinated) and flew further after visiting an inflorescence. Different measures and proxies of pollinator effectiveness varied between taxa, subpopulations, and years, and no one group of pollinators was consistently more effective than the others. Our results demonstrate the adaptive value of generalised pollination strategies when variation in relative abundance of different types of pollinators is considered. Such strategies may have buffered the ability of plants to reproduce during past periods of environmental change and may do so in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThe ability of honeybees to successfully grow, reproduce and build strong colonies and produce honey depends on their ability to obtain enough resources from flowering plants within appropriate seasons. However, little is known about seasonal variations and characterisation of honeybee pollen collected in Ethiopia. Therefore, to address this, a total of 2160 pollen samples were collected from five districts in different seasons for two years. The pollen samples were acetolysed and taxonomically identified. The pollen type was classified into frequency categories based on its relative abundance. Diversity indices and species richness were also calculated and compared between districts and seasons. The highest species richness was recorded in Guraferda district, while the lowest was recorded in Godare district. The spring season was considered the most suitable as it has the highest richness in all districts. The ‘predominant’ and ‘secondary’ pollen sources were identified from different plant genera in Asteraceae (62.23%), Mimosaceae (23.59%), Myrtaceae (43.76%), Poaceae (27.25%), Rubiaceae (36.64%), Combretaceae (28.14%), Euphorbiaceae (18.97%), Burseraceae (16.35%), Convolvulaceae (16.52%), Solanaceae (21.40%), Icacinaceae (17.86%), and Dichapetalaceae (16.35%). Terminalia spp. (Combretaceae) had the highest pollen counts and are common in the area. Other species with significant pollen counts included Acacia spp. (Mimosaceae), Croton macrostachyus (Euphorbiaceae), Eucalyptus camaldulensis (Myrtaceae), Vernonia spp. (Asteraceae) and Iodes spp. (Icacinaceae). This study indicated that southwest Ethiopia has great potential for honey production and beekeeping business based on the study of pollen collected. Thus, these results help as a guide to the optimal use of flora resources by a honeybee in the areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community‐wide assembly of plant–pollinator systems depends on an intricate combination of biotic and abiotic factors, including heterogeneity among pollinators in thermal biology and responses to abiotic factors. Studies on the thermal biology of pollinators have mostly considered only one or a few species of plants or pollinators at a time, and the possible driving role of the diversity in thermal biology of pollinator asemblages at the plant community level remains largely unexplored. More specifically, it is unknown whether diversity in the thermal biology of bees, a major pollinator group worldwide, contributes to the assembly and maintenance of diverse bee communities; broadens the spectrum of possibilities available to bee‐pollinated plants; facilitates interspecific partitioning of ecological gradients across habitats, seasons, and time of day; and/or enhance plant pollination success through complementarity effects. The objectives of this study were to assess the diversity in thermal biology of the bee assemblage that pollinates plants in a Mediterranean montane area, evaluate its taxonomic and phylogenetic underpinnings, and elucidate whether there existed seasonal, daily, between‐habitat, or floral visitation correlates of bee thermal biology which could contribute to partition ecological gradients among plant and bee species. Thermal biology parameters were obtained in the laboratory (K, intrinsic warming constant) and the field (thoracic and ambient temperature at foraging site, Tth and Tair) on individual bees of a diverse sample (N = 204 bee species) comprising most bee pollinators of the regional plant community. Species‐specific thermal biology parameters were combined with quantitative field data on bee pollinators and flower visitation for the regional community of entomophilous plants (N = 292 plant species). Results revealed that the regional bee assemblage harbored considerable diversity in thermal biology features; that such diversity was mostly taxonomically, phylogenetically, and body‐size structured; and that the broad interspecific heterogeneity in thermal biology represented in the bee community as a whole eventually translated into daily, seasonal, among‐habitat, and flower visitation patterns at the plant community level. This lends support to the hypothesis that broad diversity in thermal biology of bees can enhance opportunities for bee coexistence, spatiotemporal partitioning of floral resources, and plant pollination success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acorn production in oaks (Quercus spp.) shows considerable inter-annual variation, known as masting. The effects of pollen sourced from trees within or outside the stand on acorn production were investigated in pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) in an ancient mixed woodland during two moderate masting years. Comparisons were made between natural pollination, hand pollinations with out-of-stand pollen, in-stand pollen or a 1:1 combination of the two pollen sources, and for bagged flowers left unpollinated. After all treatments, > 85% of the flowers or developing acorns were aborted between May and August of both years. When flowers were protected with pollen bags and no pollen added, no acorns were produced. In contrast, hand pollination with out-of-stand pollen produced the most acorns both years and significantly more than within-stand pollen or natural pollination in 2022. Hand pollination with out-of-stand or within-stand pollen provided significantly more acorns than natural pollination in 2023. In 2022, hand pollination with a 1:1 mixture of out-of-stand and within-stand pollen yielded an intermediate number of mature acorns between those for the out-of-stand and within-stand pollination treatments. The study provides clear evidence of maternal choice during acorn development in pedunculate oak and of the benefits of pollen supplementation. It also confirms that pedunculate oak is a fruit-maturation masting species; abortion of pollinated flowers and immature acorns determines a mast year (rather than the number of flowers produced) at this site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the recently legalized US hemp industry (Cannabis sativa), cross-pollination between neighboring fields has become a significant challenge, leading to contaminated seeds, reduced oil yields, and in some cases, mandated crop destruction. As a step towards assessing hemp cross-pollination risk, this study characterizes the seasonal and spatial patterns in windborne hemp pollen dispersal spanning the conterminous United States (CONUS). By leveraging meteorological data obtained through mesoscale model simulations, we have driven Lagrangian Stochastic models to simulate wind-borne hemp pollen dispersion across CONUS on a county-by-county basis for five months from July to November, encompassing the potential flowering season for industrial hemp. Our findings reveal that pollen deposition rates escalate from summer to autumn due to the reduction in convective activity during daytime and the increase in wind shear at night as the season progresses. We find diurnal variations in pollen dispersion: nighttime conditions favor deposition in proximity to the source, while daytime conditions facilitate broader dispersal albeit with reduced deposition rates. These shifting weather patterns give rise to specific regions of CONUS more vulnerable to hemp cross-pollination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While most flowering plants engage in mutualistic interactions with their pollinators, Arisaema species employ a unique, seemingly antagonistic strategy by imprisoning and causing the pollinators to perish within their spathes. Recent studies have revealed that Arisaema thunbergii primarily relies on a fungus gnat, Leia ishitanii, with some individuals possibly escaping female spathes after oviposition. We investigated interactions between A. urashima and its pollinating fungus gnats, given that A. urashima is closely related to A. thunbergii. Specifically, we tested whether decaying A. urashima serve as brood‐sites for some pollinators and whether these pollinators can escape seemingly lethal floral traps. We retrieved A. urashima spathes together with adult insect corpses trapped within the spathes and incubated the spathes to see if conspecific insects emerged. In addition, under laboratory conditions, we observed the escape behaviour of Sciophila yokoyamai, whose next‐generation adults most frequently emerge from the decaying spathes. Our findings indicate that S. yokoyamai almost always escapes from the female spathe after oviposition while using the inflorescence as a nursery. In contrast, other pollinators of A. urashima, including Mycetophila spp., remain trapped and perished within the spathes. This study demonstrates that A. urashima spathes can function both as lethal traps and mutualistic nurseries, with outcomes differing among pollinator species. Our results also suggest that the contribution of certain pollinators to Arisaema reproduction is underestimated or even neglected, given that information on their pollinator assemblages has been based on floral visitors trapped within the inflorescences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The diversification of angiosperms has largely been attributed to adaptive radiation of their pollination and mating systems, which are relevant drivers of the macroevolution processes. The fig (Ficus, Moraceae) and fig wasp (Agaonidae, Hymenoptera) interaction is an example of obligate mutualism. Passive and active pollination modes have been associated with morphological traits in both partners. However, more information is required to assess the relationship between floral traits and pollination modes, particularly in Neotropical Ficus species. This study evaluates the morphological traits of figs and fig wasps regarding pollination modes in species belonging to Neotropical Ficus sections (three species each of Americanae and Pharmacosycea). Pollination mode was identified by floral morphology, anther/ovule ratio, and specialized structures fig wasps use for pollen transport (pollen pocket and coxal combs). Fig species in sect. Americanae are actively pollinated because pistillate flowers form a synstigma, present anther/ovule ratios <0.11, and their pollinator Pegoscapus fig wasps have pollen pockets and coxal combs. In contrast, species in sect. Pharmacosycea have free pistillate flowers, with anther/ovule ratios >0.27; they are pollinated by Tetrapus wasps, which lack specialized structures to carry pollen. Each species of Ficus was associated with a single morphospecies of fig wasp. The results support previous contributions that consider reciprocal morphological traits between fig species and their pollinating wasps as evidence of a close co‐evolutionary history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reproductive isolation is one of the mechanisms of speciation. The two currently accepted subspecies of Parodia haselbergii (P. haselbergii subsp. haselbergii and P. haselbergii subsp. graessneri) were studied regarding flower traits, phenology, breeding systems and pollination. In addition, a principal component analysis with 18 floral characters and germination tests under controlled conditions were performed for both taxa. Pollination was studied in the field, in two localities of Southern Brazil. Pollinators were recorded through photos and film. Breeding system experiments were performed by applying controlled pollinations to plants excluded from pollinators. Both taxa mostly differ in asynchronous flowering periods, floral traits (including floral part measurements and nectar concentration) and pollinators. The flowers of both subspecies are functionally protogynous and perform remarkably long lifespans (≥ 15 days), both traits being novelties for Cactaceae. Whereas the reddish flowers of P. haselbergii subsp. haselbergii (nectar concentration: ca. 18%) are pollinated by hummingbirds of Thalurania glaucopis, the greenish flowers of P. haselbergii subsp. graessneri (nectar concentration: ca. 29%) are pollinated by Augochlora bees (Halictidae). Both subspecies are self-compatible, yet pollinator-dependent. The principal component analysis evidenced that both subspecies are separated, regarding flower traits. The seeds of both subspecies performed differently in the germination tests, but the best results were recovered at 20 °C and germination considerably decreased around 30 °C. In conclusion, all these results support that both taxa are in reproductive isolation, and can be treated as different species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Competition among pollinators for floral resources is a phenomenon of both basic and applied importance. While competition is difficult to measure directly under field conditions, it can be inferred indirectly through the measurement of floral resource depletion. In this study, we conducted a pollinator exclusion experiment to calculate nectar depletion rates in summer across 16 grassland sites in the German regions of Franconia and Saxony‐Anhalt. Overall depletion rates were estimated at 95% in Franconia and 79% in Saxony‐Anhalt, indicating strong nectar limitation and likely competition among pollinators for nectar. Despite being ubiquitous in our study regions, honey bees were scarce at our sites at the time of nectar sampling. This demonstrates that wild pollinators alone are capable of massive nectar depletion, and the addition of managed honey bees to wild pollinator communities may intensify already competitive conditions. Nevertheless, the manifest diversity of the pollinator communities at our sites indicates that other factors, such as non‐trophic constraints or temporal variation in nectar limitation, can mitigate competitive exclusion despite immediate conditions of acute nectar scarcity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change, landscape homogenization, and the decline of beneficial insects threaten pollination services to wild plants and crops. Understanding how pollination potential (i.e. the capacity of ecosystems to support pollination of plants) is affected by climate change and landscape homogenization is fundamental for our ability to predict how such anthropogenic stressors affect plant biodiversity. Models of pollinator potential are improved when based on pairwise plant–pollinator interactions and pollinator's plant preferences. However, whether the sum of predicted pairwise interactions with a plant within a habitat (a proxy for pollination potential) relates to pollen deposition on flowering plants has not yet been investigated. We sampled plant–bee interactions in 68 Scandinavian plant communities in landscapes of varying land‐cover heterogeneity along a latitudinal temperature gradient of 4–8°C, and estimated pollen deposition as the number of pollen grains on flowers of the bee‐pollinated plants Lotus corniculatus and Vicia cracca. We show that plant–bee interactions, and the pollination potential for these bee‐pollinated plants increase with landscape diversity, annual mean temperature, and plant abundance, and decrease with distances to sand‐dominated soils. Furthermore, the pollen deposition in flowers increased with the predicted pollination potential, which was driven by landscape diversity and plant abundance. Our study illustrates that the pollination potential, and thus pollen deposition, for wild plants can be mapped based on spatial models of plant–bee interactions that incorporate pollinator‐specific plant preferences. Maps of pollination potential can be used to guide conservation and restoration planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last decades, bee biodiversity has dropped sharply due to land use change, including urbanization. To contrast this, recent research has pointed to cities as a hotspot for bees. Because of this ambiguity, a scoping review has been conducted to examine the urban characteristics that impact bees and how bees are impacted. A total of 276 articles were analyzed against landscape and local habitat characteristics. The key findings include first that natural areas are more valuable for bees since biodiversity levels are higher. Second, urban areas generally score better than agricultural and rural areas. Third, plant biodiversity positively influences bee biodiversity. Fourth, the urban environment strongly affects some bee traits and the proportion of native bees. For making cities bee friendly and bee inclusive, we recommend to maintain natural areas, connect natural areas to urban ecosystems, encourage floral abundance and diversity and increasing the size of urban green areas overall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Global change, especially landscape simplification, is a main driver of species loss that can alter ecological interaction networks, with potentially severe consequences to ecosystem functions. Therefore, understanding how landscape simplification affects the rate of loss of plant–pollinator interaction diversity (i.e., number of unique interactions) compared to species diversity alone, and the role of persisting abundant pollinators, is key to assess the consequences of landscape simplification on network stability and pollination services. Location: France, Germany, and Switzerland. Methods: We analysed 24 landscape‐scale plant–pollinator networks from standardised transect walks along landscape simplification gradients in three countries. We compared the rates of species and interaction diversity loss along the landscape simplification gradient and then stepwise excluded the top 1%–20% most abundant pollinators from the data set to evaluate their effect on interaction diversity, network robustness to secondary loss of species, and flower visitation frequencies in simplified landscapes. Results: Interaction diversity was not more vulnerable than species diversity to landscape simplification, with pollinator and interaction diversity showing similar rates of erosion with landscape simplification. We found that 20% of both species and interactions are lost with an increase of arable crop cover from 30% to 80% in a landscape. The decrease in interaction diversity was partially buffered by persistent abundant generalist pollinators in simplified landscapes, which were nested subsets of pollinator communities in complex landscapes, while plants showed a high turnover in interactions across landscapes. The top 5% most abundant pollinator species also contributed to network robustness against secondary species loss but could not prevent flowers from a loss of visits in simplified landscapes. Main Conclusions: Although persistent abundant pollinators buffered the decrease in interaction diversity in simplified landscapes and stabilised network robustness, flower visitation frequency was reduced, emphasising potentially severe consequences of further ongoing land‐use change for pollination services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Primary nectar-robbers feed through holes they make in flowers, often bypassing the plant's reproductive organs in the process. In many robbed plants, multiple holes are made in a single flower. Why a flower should be robbed repeatedly is difficult to understand: a hole signals that a nectar forager has already fed, which would seem likely to predict low rewards. We tested three explanations for this pattern in Corydalis caseana (Fumariaceae), a bumble bee pollinated and robbed plant: (1) multiple holes appear only after all flowers have been robbed once; (2) individual foragers make multiple holes during single visits; and (3) it is more profitable for bees to rob older flowers, even if they have already been robbed. We tested these hypotheses from 2014 to 2016 in a Colorado, USA population using data on robbing rates over time, floral longevity, nectar accumulation in visited and unvisited flowers, and the accumulation of robbing holes across the life of flowers. Multiple holes were already appearing when two-thirds of flowers still lacked a single hole, allowing us to reject the first hypothesis. The second hypothesis cannot offer a full explanation for multiple robbing holes because 35% of additional holes appeared in flowers one or more days after the first hole was made. Repeated sampling of bagged and exposed inflorescences revealed that flowers filled at a constant rate and refilled completely after being drained. Consequently, young flowers are of consistently low value to foragers compared to older flowers even if they had previously been robbed, consistent with the third hypothesis. While further studies are needed, these results offer a simple explanation for the paradoxical clustering of nectar-robbing damage in this and possibly other plant species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cannabis (Cannabis sativa) is a versatile crop belonging to the Cannabaceae family, and is dioecious, typically with separate male and female plants. The flowers of female plants, especially the trichomes, accumulate relatively higher contents of cannabinoids compared with those of male plants. For this reason, to obtain seeds that are genetically female, it is desirable to induce the development of male flowers on a female plant that produces genetically female haploid gametes. Silver thiosulfate (STS) is a highly effective chemical for male flower induction. We investigated male flower induction in three commercial cultivars of female cannabis (Spectrum303, SuperwomanS1, and CBGambit) regarding the treatment frequency, stage of application, and concentration of STS applied as a foliar spray. All three cultivars showed adequate induction of male flowers in response to 1.5 mM STS applied at the early reproductive stage. In particular, SuperwomanS1 was most highly responsive to induction of male flowers, even when treated with 0.3 mM STS at the early reproductive stage. Treatment with three applications of STS was more effective compared with a single application, but a single application of 1.5 mM STS at the early reproductive stage was sufficient for male flower induction. A single STS application during the middle stage of reproductive growth was inadequate for induction of male flowers. However, 6 weeks after three applications of STS, CBGambit exhibited approximately 54% male flower induction at 0.3 mM STS, Spectrum303 showed approximately 56% induction at 3 mM STS, and SuperwomanS1 yielded approximately 26% induction at 1.5 mM (expressed as percentage of total number of individuals with the induced male flowers). Pollen stainability tests using KI-I2 solution and Alexander's staining showed high pollen viability with over 65% at different single STS concentrations, indicating that pollen grains induced by STS have sufficient viability for the self-pollination. This study demonstrated that different cultivars of cannabis respond diversely to different STS concentrations and highlighted the potential benefits of three STS applications during the middle reproductive stage for cannabis breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of visit of pollinator insect(Chalicodoma cincta) on the production of Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris, Rose variety), were studied at Sarh in September 2021 and 2022. The experiments were made on four treatments. The activity behavior of Chalicodoma cincta on the flower were appreciated to determinate is impact on the yield. Results indicate that among seven insect species recorded on flowers, C. cincta ranked first (31.41%) and harvested nectar. Throughout the importance of the flower visit, this insect provoked a significant increase of the podding rate (30.45 %), the mean number of seeds per pod (22.42 %) and the percentage of normal seeds (32.81%). The conservation and installation of C. cincta nests close the plantation fields is recommended to improve pod production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cannabinoid hemp is a dioecious crop where pistillate plants are selectively grown to maximize cannabinoid yields. Errant pollination can reduce pistillate flower yields, cannabinoid concentrations, and lead to unmarketable flowers due to the presence of undesirable seeds. We compared pollen sensitivity and agronomic performance of diploid (2n = 2x = 20 chromosomes) and triploid (2n = 3x = 30 chromosomes) cannabinoid hemp in open-field conditions. The high-CBD variety Lifter and high-CBG variety White CBG were evaluated in both their diploid and triploid counterparts in fields with and without pollen. Trials were conducted during the 2021 and 2022 field seasons in Kentucky, New York, and North Carolina (n = 6 site years). Triploids produced taller and wider plants than diploids; however, this did not result in yield differences in the pollen-free environment. In the presence of pollen, triploid Lifter and White CBG produced 87% and 77% fewer seeds than their diploid counterparts, respectively. Increased seed production in diploids also resulted in a significant reduction of seed-free biomass and cannabinoid concentrations compared to triploids. In the absence of pollen, we did not find any appreciable differences in seed-free biomass or cannabinoid concentrations between triploids and diploids. Though not completely pollen-insensitive, triploidy is an effective means to reduce seed production and improve yields and quality in cannabinoid hemp in the presence of pollen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

FIR filter design and implementation are the requirements of most DSP systems. The design objective of the FIR filter is nondifferentiable, nonlinear and multimodal in nature. Therefore, FIR filter design through optimization methods is most frequently employed. In the proposed work, COOT bird optimization-based FIR filters are designed. The FIR filters based on particle swarm optimization (PSO) and flower pollination optimization (FPA) algorithms are also designed for comparison. The objective function based on mean square error minimization is formulated. The low-pass, high-pass, band-pass and band-stop FIR filters of different order are designed to show the efficacy of the proposed method. COOT provides minimum passband and stopband ripples, fast convergence and less execution time for all the designed filters. The proposed technique is also compared with the existing approaches and provides a reduction in passband ripples, stopband ripples and stopband attenuation. To reduce the complexity of FIR filters, multiplierless techniques canonical signed digit (CSD), factorized canonical signed digit (FCSD) and distributed arithmetic (DA) are utilized for the implementation of FIR filters on Basys-3 (Artix-7) FPGA Board. The multiplier-based architecture is also implemented for comparison. Hardware resource utilization and dynamic power consumption of each architecture are compared. DA showed 92.16, 89.96 and 90.11% reduction in the number of LUTs, and 91.16, 89.68 and 89.77% reduction in dynamic power consumption from the multiplier, CSD and FCSD-based architectures, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant species bearing extrafloral nectaries (EFNs) may indirectly influence other plant species by sharing protective ants, potentially altering herbivory levels. However, the propagation of indirect effects in this type of mutualism has seldom been investigated. We investigated indirect effects via ant sharing among 21 EFN‐bearing plant species of the tribe Bignonieae distributed on 28 plots in the central Brazilian Amazon. We used an ecological network index to quantify potential indirect effects among plant species through shared dominant and subordinate ant species. Plant species that were more attractive to ants (promoter species) had the highest potential to indirectly influence ant visitation to less attractive plant species (receptor species) in the community, primarily through changes in the attraction of dominant ant species. However, these potential indirect effects did not result in significant differences in herbivory patterns among the studied plants. Ant attendance and herbivory levels were similar among promoter species, neighbouring plants, and non‐neighbouring plants. Unlike other mutualisms involving plants (e.g., pollination), the indirect effects among plant species that share protective ants had limited consequences. The low levels of herbivory and the small foraging areas of shared ant defenders could be responsible for the observed limited impact of indirect interactions among plant species in this system. Synthesis: This study demonstrates that plant species with EFNs can indirectly influence other plant species through ant sharing. The attractiveness of certain plants to ants enables them to affect the ant visitation patterns of less attractive plants in the community. However, these indirect effects did not significantly alter herbivory levels among plants. Overall, this study advances ecological understanding by showing that the sharing of protective ants among plant species can in some cases confer limited costs and benefits, leading indirect interactions to have minimal impact on herbivory patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Recent studies show that nocturnal pollinators may be more important to ecosystem function and food production than is currently appreciated. Here, we describe an agricultural field study of pyrethrum (Tanacetum cinerariifolium) flower pollination. Pyrethrum is genetically self‐incompatible and thus is reliant on pollinators for seed set. Our pollinator exclusion experiment showed that nocturnal insects, particularly moths, significantly contribute to seed set and quality. We discovered that the most abundant floral volatile, the sesquiterpene (−)‐germacrene D (GD), is key in attracting the noctuid moths Peridroma saucia and Helicoverpa armigera. Germacrene D synthase (GDS) gene expression regulates the specific GD production and accumulation in flowers, which, in contrast to related species, lose the habit of closing at night. We did observe that female moths also oviposited on pyrethrum leaves and flower peduncles, but found that only a small fraction of those eggs hatched. Larvae were severely stunted in development, most likely due to the presence of pyrethrin defense compounds. This example of exploitative mutualism, which blocks the reproductive success of the moth pollinator and depends on nocturnal interactions, is placed into an ecological context to explain why it may have developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study systematically rejects the long‐standing notion of cospeciation as the dominant driver of codiversification between flowering plants and their specialist pollinators. Through cophylogenetic analysis of six classical specialized pollination systems, the research finds that cospeciation events are consistently outnumbered by non‐cospeciation events, such as host‐switch, duplication, and association losses. The findings support a more dynamic and diffuse codiversification paradigm, highlighting the importance of considering a broader range of evolutionary events in understanding plant–pollinator codiversification. This new understanding is robust across diverse pollination systems and has significant implications for conservation strategies in the face of environmental change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pollination is crucial to obtaining optimal blueberry yield and fruit quality. Despite substantial investments in seasonal beekeeping services, blueberry producers consistently report suboptimal pollinator visitation and fruit set in some cultivars. Flower morphology and floral rewards are among the key factors that have shown to contribute to pollinator attraction, however little is known about their relative importance for improving yield in the context of plant breeding. Clarifying the relationships between flower morphology, nectar reward content, pollinator recruitment, and pollination outcomes, as well as their genetic components, can inform breeding priorities for enhancing blueberry production. In the present study, we measured ten flower and nectar traits and indices of successful pollination, including fruit set, seed count, and fruit weight in 38 southern highbush blueberry genotypes. Additionally, we assessed pollinator visitation frequency and foraging behavior over two growing seasons. Several statistical models were tested to optimize the prediction of pollinator visitation and pollination success, including partial least squares, BayesB, ridge-regression, and random forest. Results: Random forest models obtained high predictive abilities for pollinator visitation frequency, with values of 0.54, 0.52, and 0.66 for honey bee, bumble bee, and total pollinator visits, respectively. The BayesB model provided the most consistent prediction of fruit set, fruit weight, and seed set, with predictive abilities of 0.07, -0.08, and 0.42, respectively. Variable importance analysis revealed that genotypic differences in nectar volume had the greatest impact on honey bee and bumble bee visitation, although preferences for flower morphological traits varied depending on the foraging task. Flower density was a major driving factor attracting nectar-foraging honey bees and bumble bees, while pollen-foraging bumble bees were most influenced by flower accessibility, specifically corolla length and the length-to-width ratio. Conclusions: Honey bees comprised the majority of pollinator visits, and were primarily influenced by nectar volume and flower density. Corolla length and the length-to-width ratio were also identified as the main predictors of fruit set, fruit weight, seed count, as well as pollen-foraging bumble bee visits, suggesting that these bees and their foraging preferences may play a pivotal role in fruit production. Moderate to high narrow-sense heritability values (ranging from 0.30 to 0.77) were obtained for all floral traits, indicating that selective breeding efforts may enhance cultivar attractiveness to pollinators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global climate change disrupts key ecological processes and biotic interactions. The recent increase in heatwave frequency and severity prompts the evaluation of physiological processes that ensure the maintenance of vital ecosystem services such as pollination. We used experimental heatwaves to determine how high temperatures affect the bumblebees' ability to detect floral scents. Heatwaves induced strong reductions in antennal responses to floral scents in both tested bumblebee species (Bombus terrestris and Bombus pascuorum). These reductions were generally stronger in workers than in males. Bumblebees showed no consistent pattern of recovery 24 h after heat events. Our results suggest that the projected increased frequency and severity of heatwaves may jeopardize bumblebee-mediated pollination services by disrupting the chemical communication between plants and pollinators. The reduced chemosensitivity can decrease the bumblebees' abilities to locate food sources and lead to declines in colonies and populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Pollinating flower-consuming mutualisms are considered exemplary models for studying coevolution due to their rarity. Visual cues are considered to have a major role in facilitating the evolution of floral patterns in these systems. We present a new specialized pollinating flower-consuming mutualism from the plant Wurfbainia villosa, which is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine, by a pollinating weevil, Xenysmoderes sp. Methods: In this study, We utilized monochrome plates for binary-choice tests to determine weevil color preferences, conducted behavioral choice experiments, using trackballs, photographed flowers and weevils, and employed blue sticky boards to attract weevils in the field. Results: Tests were conducted using colorpreferring weevils in both indoor and outdoor field systems, and validation experiments were performed. Behavioral tests were conducted to investigate the role of the visual cues in the pollinator attraction of W. villosa, which is a selfcompatible insect-pollinated plant that relies primarily on the Xenysmoderes sp. weevil for pollination due to its specialized gynandrium-like structure. Behavioral tests demonstrated that a blue color wavelength of 480 nm and the blue color system, as along with the UV-style pattern of the flowers, particularly the parts with specialized gynandrium-like structures in the labellum, were significantly attractive to both male and female weevils. These results were further confirmed through the field blue sticky board trap method. Discussion: These findings indicated that the interaction between W. villosa and Xenysmoderes sp. weevil was a novel symbiotic relationship involving pollinator flower consumption. Additionally, Wurfbainia villosa flowers developed specific visual cues of UV patterns and specialized structures that played a crucial role in attracting pollinators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent declines in bee populations and ranges have been cause for concern due to the valuable pollination service that they provide. Several factors have been proposed to contribute to these declines, including habitat loss, pathogen spread, and pesticide usage, so many pollinator conservation schemes have involved the addition of pollinator-friendly habitat through wildflower plantings and artificial nesting sites. Because of this, many efforts have been made to enhance bee populations across different landscape types, including natural, agricultural, urban, and industrial areas. Many of these schemes have focused on providing habitat for bees and other animal pollinators in agricultural landscapes, but other managed areas, such as cities, suburbs, and industrialized areas may have untapped potential for pollinator conservation. Available green space can be enhanced to provide healthy forage and safe nesting sites for pollinators. As these areas are also often frequented by human residents, the needs and perceptions of people, as well as the potential benefits for pollinators, must be considered to ensure the success of pollinator conservation on anthropogenic habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The theory of Condition Dependent Sex predicts that – everything else being equal – less fit individuals would outcross at higher rates compared with fitter ones. Here we used the mixed mating plant Lamium amplexicaule, capable of producing both self-pollinating closed flowers (CL), alongside open flowers (CH) that allow cross pollination to test it. We investigated the effects of abiotic stress – salt solution irrigation – on the flowering patterns of plants and their offspring. We monitored several flowering and vegetative parameters, including the number and distribution of flowers, CH fraction, and plant size. Results: We found that stressed plants show an increased tendency for self-pollination and a deficit in floral and vegetative development. However, when parentally primed, stressed plants show a milder response. Un-stressed offspring of stressed parents show reversed responses and exhibit an increased tendency to outcross, and improve floral and vegetative development. Conclusions: In summary, we found that stress affects the reproduction strategy in the plants that experienced the stress and in subsequent offspring through F2 generation. Our results provide experimental evidence supporting a transgenerational extension to the theories of fitness associate sex and dispersal, where an individual's tendency for sex and dispersal may depend on the stress experienced by its parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: While bats are tremendously important to global ecosystems, they have been and continue to be threatened by loss of habitat, food, or roosts, pollution, bat diseases, hunting and killing. Some bat species have also been implicated in the transmission of infectious disease agents to humans. While One Health efforts have been ramped up recently to educate and protect human and bat health, such initiatives have been limited by lack of adequate data on the pathways to ensure their support. For instance, data on the role of bats in supporting different components of human welfare assets would be utilized as a stepping stone to champion conservation campaigns. Unfortunately, these data are limited and efforts to synthesize existing literature have majorly focused on few components human welfare leaving other important aspects. Methods: Here, we analyze benefits associated with bats in the context of welfare economics considering all the asset components. We surveyed scientific and gray literature platforms utilizing particular keywords. We then classified these values using integrated approaches to understand different values across human welfare assets of "health," "material and immaterial assets," "security or safety" and "social or cultural or spiritual relations". Results: We found 235 papers from different countries indicating that bats play fundamental roles in supporting human welfare. These benefits were more prevalent in Asia and Africa. In terms of the use of bats to support welfare assets, bats were majorly utilized to derive material and immaterial benefits (n = 115), e.g., food and income. This was followed by their use in addressing health challenges (n = 99), e.g., treatment of ailments. There was a similarity in the benefits across different regions and countries. Conclusion: These results indicate potential opportunities for strengthening bat conservation programs. We recommend more primary studies to enhance understanding of these benefits as well as their effectiveness in deriving the perceived outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Pollination presents a risky journey for pollen grains. Pollen loss is sometimes thought to favour greater pollen investment to compensate for the inefficiency of transport. Sex allocation theory, to the contrary, has consistently concluded that postdispersal loss should have no selective effect on investment in either sex function. But the intuitively appealing compensation idea continues to be raised despite the lack of theoretical endorsement.We address the theoretical issue with a model that directly represents pollen loss (and ovule loss through floral demise or loss of receptivity) as rate‐dependent dynamical processes. These loss rates can be varied to examine the effect of pollination efficiency on optimal sex allocation. Pollen–ovule ratios follow from the sex allocation based on the resource costs of pollen and ovule production.This model confirms conventional findings that pollen loss should have essentially no effect on sexual resource allocation in large, panmictic populations. Pollen limitation of seed set does not alter this conclusion.These results force us to rethink the empirical association of pollination efficiency with low pollen–ovule ratios. This pattern could arise if efficient pollen transport commonly results in stigmatic deposition of cohorts of related pollen. Empirical evidence of correlated paternity supports this explanation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Mycorrhizal symbiosis, seed dispersal, and pollination are recognized as the most prominent mutualistic interactions in terrestrial ecosystems. However, it remains unclear how these symbiotic relationships have interacted to contribute to current plant diversity.We analyzed evolutionary relationships among mycorrhizal type, seed dispersal mode, and pollination mode in two global databases of 699 (database I) and 10 475 (database II) tree species. Although database II had been estimated from phylogenetic patterns and therefore had lower certainty of the mycorrhizal type than database I, whose mycorrhizal type was determined by direct observation, database II allowed analysis of many more taxa from more regions than database I.We found evidence of joint evolution of all three features in both databases. This result is robust to the effects of both sampling bias and missing taxa. Most arbuscular mycorrhizal‐associated trees had endozoochorous (biotic) seed dispersal and biotic pollination, with long dispersal distances, whereas most ectomycorrhizal‐associated trees had anemochorous (abiotic) seed dispersal and wind (abiotic) pollination mode, with shorter dispersal distances.These results provide a novel scenario in mutualistic interactions, seed dispersal, pollination, and mycorrhizal symbiosis types, which have jointly evolved and shaped current tree diversity and forest ecosystem world‐wide. See also the Commentary on this article by Sinnott‐Armstrong, 243: 1290–1292. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wheat hybrids have been widely demonstrated to have remarkable heterosis or hybrid vigor in increasing yield potential and stability since the 1960s. Two-line hybrid wheat can achieve higher yields than local varieties, especially in marginal environments. However, the commercial application of hybrid wheat is hindered by higher seed costs, primarily due to lower yields in hybrid seed production. Stigma exsertion has been verified as a decisive factor in increasing rice's hybrid seed yield, but more investigation is needed in hybrid wheat breeding and production. In this study, four thermo-photo-sensitive genic male sterile lines, including K41S, K64S, K66S, and K68S, with different stigma exsertion rates (SERs) were used to compare the differences in floral architecture relative to stigma exsertion over two growing seasons. The results revealed that the K41S and K64S exhibited a relatively higher SER at 21.87% and 22.81%, respectively. No exserted stigma was observed in K66S, and K68S had an SER of only 0.82%. This study found that the stigma length, glume width and the length–width ratio of the glume were significantly correlated with the SER, with correlation coefficients of 0.46, −0.46 and 0.60, respectively. Other stigma features such as the branch angle, stretch width and hairbrush length, as well as the glume length, also had a weakly positive correlation with SER (r = 0.09–0.27). For K41S and K64S, the SER was significantly affected by the differences in the stigma branch angle and stigma stretch width among florets. A cross-pollination survey showed that the out-crossing ability of florets with an exserted stigma was about three times as high as that of florets with a non-exserted stigma. As a result, the stigma-exserted florets that accounted for 21.87% and 22.81% of the total florets in K41S and K64S produced 46.80% and 48.53% of the total cross-pollinated seeds in both sterile lines. These findings suggest that a longer stigma combined with a slender glume appears to be the essential floral feature of stigma exsertion in sterile wheat lines. It is expected that breeding and utilizing sterile lines with a higher SER would be a promising solution to cost-effective hybrid wheat seed production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gymnosperms originated in the Middle Devonian and have experienced a long evolutionary history with pulses of speciation and extinction, which resulted in the four morphologically distinct extant groups, i.e., cycads, Ginkgo, conifers and gnetophytes. For over a century, the systematic relationships within the extant gymnosperms have been debated because different authors emphasized different characters. Recent phylogenomic studies of gymnosperms have given a consistent topology, which aligns well with extant gymnosperms classified into three classes, five subclasses, eight orders, and 13 families. Here, we review the historical opinions of systematics of gymnosperms with special reference to several problematic taxa and reconsider the evolution of some key morphological characters previously emphasized by taxonomists within a phylogenomic context. We conclude that (1) cycads contain two families, i.e., the Cycadaceae and the Zamiaceae; (2) Ginkgo is sister to cycads but not to conifers, with the similarities between Ginkgo and conifers being the result of parallel evolution including a monopodial growth pattern, pycnoxylic wood in long shoots, and the compound female cones, and the reproductive similarities between Ginkgo and cycads are either synapomorphic or plesiomorphic, e.g., the boat-shaped pollen, the branched pollen tube, and the flagellate sperms; (3) conifers are paraphyletic with gnetophytes nested within them, thus gnetophytes are derived conifers, and our newly delimited coniferophytes are equivalent to the Pinopsida and include three subclasses, i.e., Pinidae, Gnetidae, and Cupressidae; (4) fleshy cones of conifers originated multiple times, the Podocarpaceae are sister to the Araucariaceae, the Cephalotaxaceae and the Taxaceae comprise a small clade, which is sister to the Cupressaceae; (5) the Cephalotaxaceae are distinct from the Taxaceae, because the former family possesses typical female cones and the fleshy part of the seed is derived from the fleshiness of integument, while the latter family has reduced female cones and preserves no traces of the seed scale complexes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To gain a deeper understanding of the flowering pattern and reproductive characteristics of Epimedium sagittatum, to enrich the research on the flower development of E. sagittatum and its reproductive regulation, and to screen the methods suitable for the rapid detection of pollen viability of E. sagittatum and to promote its cross-breeding. The characteristics of its flower parts were observed, recorded and measured, and the pollen viability of E. sagittatumwas determined by five methods, including TTC staining, I2-KI staining, red ink staining, peroxidase method and in vitro germination method. The flowering process of E. sagittatum can be divided into five stages: calyx dehiscence, bract spathe, petal outgrowth, pollen dispersal, and pollination and withering. The results of I2-KI staining and peroxidase method were significantly higher than those of other methods; the in vitro germination method was intuitive and accurate, but the operation was complicated and time-consuming; the red ink staining method was easy to operate and had obvious staining effect, and the results were the closest to those of the in vitro germination method; and it was found that the pollen of E. sagittatum was not as effective as the in vitro germination method at the bud stamen stage, the flower stigma and the flower bud. It was also found that the pollen viability and germination rate of E. sagittatum pollen were higher in the three periods of bud spitting, petal adductor and pollen dispersal. Comparing the five methods, the red ink staining method was found to be a better method for the rapid detection of pollen viability; the best pollination periods of E. sagittatum were the bud stamen stage, petal adductor stage, and pollen dispersal stage of flowers at the peak of bloom. This study on the flowering and fruiting pattern of E. sagittatum, and the related mechanism of sexual reproduction, can be used as a reference for the next step of research on the breeding of E. sagittatum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trapping trichomes, a common trait found in protogynous trap flowers, are thought to enable interaction with pollinators, promoting both pollen removal and fruit set. However, this hypothesis has yet to be empirically confirmed. In this study, we experimentally tested whether trapping trichomes favour male and female functions in trap flowers. Using protogynous South American Aristolochia esperanzae trap flowers, we observed the temporal variation in both sexual functions and associated them with the wilting of the flower and trapping trichomes. Next, we described the trapping trichomes features associated with the capture, entrapment and release of pollinators. Finally, we used manipulative experiments involving trapping trichome removal to quantify their influence on pollinator entrapment, pollen removal and fruit set. While flowers wilted after the end of the female phase, the trapping trichomes only wilted some hours after pollen presentation, promoting a delay in the exit of pollinators, so they carried pollen. Trapping trichomes features, such as a density gradient towards the interior of the tube, unidirectional orientation and epicuticular waxes, may be important in the capture and entrapment of pollinators. Trapping trichome removal decreased drastically the probability of pollinator entrapment and pollen removal, leading to no fruit set. These results indicate that the evolution and maintenance of trapping trichomes in trap flowers probably occurred through selective pressures from both sexual functions and highlight their role in the functioning of this highly phenotypically specialized pollination system. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pollination process of kiwifruit flowers plays a crucial role in kiwifruit yield. Achieving accurate and rapid identification of the four stages of kiwifruit flowers is essential for enhancing pollination efficiency. In this study, to improve the efficiency of kiwifruit pollination, we propose a novel full-stage kiwifruit flower pollination detection algorithm named KIWI-YOLO, based on the fusion of frequency-domain features. Our algorithm leverages frequency-domain and spatial-domain information to improve recognition of contour-detailed features and integrates decision-making with contextual information. Additionally, we incorporate the Bi-Level Routing Attention (BRA) mechanism with C3 to enhance the algorithm's focus on critical areas, resulting in accurate, lightweight, and fast detection. The algorithm achieves a mAP0:5 of 91.6% with only 1.8M parameters, the AP of the Female class and the Male class reaches 95% and 93.5%, which is an improvement of 3.8%, 1.2%, and 6.2% compared with the original algorithm. Furthermore, the Recall and F1-score of the algorithm are enhanced by 5.5% and 3.1%, respectively. Moreover, our model demonstrates significant advantages in detection speed, taking only 0.016s to process an image. The experimental results show that the algorithmic model proposed in this study can better assist the pollination of kiwifruit in the process of precision agriculture production and help the development of the kiwifruit industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Episyrphus balteatus can provide dual ecosystem services including pest control and pollination, which the larvae are excellent predators of aphid pest whereas adults are efficient pollinator. In this study, we assembled a high-quality genome of E. balteatus from northern China geographical population at the chromosome level by using Illumina, PacBio long reads, and Hi-C technologies. The 467.42 Mb genome was obtained from 723 contigs, with a contig N50 of 9.16 Mb and Scaffold N50 of 118.85 Mb, and 90.25% (431.75 Mb) of the assembly was anchored to 4 pseudo-autosomes and one pseudo-heterosome. In total, 14,848 protein-coding genes were annotated, and 95.14% of genes were fully represented in NR, GO, KEGG databases. Besides, we also obtained the mitochondrial genome of E. balteatus of 16, 837 bp in length with 37 typical mitochondrial genes. Overall, this high-quality genome is valuable for evolutionary and genetic studies of E. balteatus and other Syrphidae hoverfly species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Onion flowers require pollinator-mediated cross-pollination. However, the cues that pollinators use to locate the flowers are not well understood. The floral scent, along with floral visual cues, might acts as important signal to pollinators in order to locate the floral resources. We used electrophysiological methods combined with behavioural assays to determine which compounds in a floral scent are more attractive and thus biologically important to foraging scollid wasps. The majority of the molecules identified as floral fragrances in onions are common compounds that are already known from other angiosperms, and onion floral scents were predominately composed of aromatic components. The antennae of scoliid wasps responded to a large number of compounds, among them o-cymene, cis-β-ocimene, benzaldehyde and allo-ocimene were behaviourally active. In contrast to other wasp flowers investigated nectar analysis demonstrated the dominance of hexose sugars over sucrose. Our findings provide fresh insights into the floral volatile chemistry of a key vegetable crop grown around the world. We demonstrate here that onion is using generalist floral volatiles to attract floral visitors. This insight could be utilised to make onion blooms more attractive to minor pollinators as well as major pollinators in order to maximise seed set. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As red-fleshed pitaya (Hylocereus polyrhizus) is not native to the tropical environment of the Malaysian state of Sabah, Borneo, little is known about its flowering phenology, pollination requirements, and potential pollinators, which has discouraged many farmers from growing this crop. Therefore, this study aimed to examine better pollination techniques to achieve acceptable fruit quality for red-fleshed pitaya production under local climatic conditions. For this purpose, stingless bees (Tetragonula laeviceps), self-pollination, natural pollination, and hand pollination were used. Pitayas were planted in the field from January 2018 to February 2022, and 40 flowers were observed to obtain data on flowering phenology and fruit quality. This study observed that anthesis of red-fleshed pitaya took about 24 hours in all treatments, depending on the local climate, starting at 6.30 p.m. and ending at 6.30 p.m. the next day. Besides self-pollination, the pitaya flowers were also successfully pollinated by natural, hand, and stingless bees. However, the fruits pollinated by stingless bees were the heaviest, longest, and thickest, indicating that the integration of pitaya cultivation and stingless bees is likely to improve the yield and quality of the fruits on the farm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heteranthery, the presence of different types of anthers on the same flower, is a floral adaptation that aims to balance the need for pollinators to collect pollen as a food resource while ensuring sufficient pollen for pollination. We investigate the role of heteranthery in the pollination of Senna arnottiana flowers and how it is affected by the behaviour of visiting bee species, with a particular focus on the impact of the invasive bumblebee Bombus terrestris.In three populations of S. arnottiana we measured the size of three sets of anthers and style, stigma–anther separation, pollen quantity and fruit set, and contrasted it with the body size, behaviour, and pollination effectiveness of all floral visitors.Different bee species visited S. arnottiana flowers, and their foraging behaviour varied. Large‐bodied native bees, including Centris cineraria, Caupolicana sp. and Cadeguala occidentalis, preferentially visited short anthers, whereas B. terrestris, an exotic bumblebee, foraged from both short and long anthers without distinction. In addition, B. terrestris contacted the stigma at a lower rate than large‐bodied native bees.Instead of concentrating its pollen‐gathering efforts on the feeding anthers, as predicted by the "division of labor" hypothesis, B. terrestris indiscriminately visited both types of anthers similarly. This behaviour of B. terrestris may disrupt the adaptive significance of heteranthery by mixing the roles of pollination and feeding anthers of S. arnottiana. Therefore, our results highlight the potential disruption of this relationship by exotic pollinators and the need to consider it in conservation efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whether foraging sunbird pollinators hover or perch, the type of perch used, and the direction of flower probing are generally thought to be determined by matching shapes of decurved bird bills and curved flower tubes, as well as inflorescence architecture. However, few studies have objectively quantified aspects of sunbird foraging behaviour to test predictions based on adaptive trait matching. I investigated sunbird foraging in a population of Pelargonium fulgidum, a species with slightly upcurved flowers borne on upward-oriented peduncles, which grows along the west coast of South Africa. Long-range photographs revealed that Cinyris chalybeus, a sunbird species with a slightly decurved bill, hovers or perches during foraging, and uses both the inflorescence and alternative vegetation structures as perch. Contrary to previous suggestions, both male and female sunbirds probe flowers from either of two alternative directions (sternotribic versus nototribic) in more or less equal proportions, and frequently display flexibility in both foraging behaviour and flower probing direction. Predominant or complete sternotribic and nototribic flower probing were explained by hovering versus use of an inflorescence perch respectively, whereas use of an alternative perch resulted in similar proportions of each mode of flower probing. The number of flowers per visited inflorescence and number and proportion of probed flowers did not vary with foraging behaviour or flower probing direction. Although certain foraging behaviours resulted in predictable flower probing directions, variation in foraging behaviour and the presence of many alternative perches provided by vegetation surrounding P. fulgidum plants resulted in variability in flower probing direction that appears not to affect foraging efficiency. Relatively weak reciprocal curvature of flower tube and sunbird bill, resulting in easy access to nectar from multiple feeding directions, likely facilitates flexible foraging. This study shows that environmental context may facilitate more complex foraging behaviour than that predicted by adaptive trait matching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Shifts in pollinator occurrence and their pollen transport effectiveness drive the evolution of mating systems in flowering plants. Understanding the genomic basis of these changes is essential for predicting the persistence of a species under environmental changes. We investigated the genomic changes in Brassica rapa over nine generations of pollination by hoverflies associated with rapid morphological evolution toward the selfing syndrome.We combined a genotyping‐by‐sequencing (GBS) approach with a genome‐wide association study (GWAS) to identify candidate genes, and assessed their functional role in the observed morphological changes by studying mutations of orthologous genes in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana.We found 31 candidate genes involved in a wide range of functions from DNA/RNA binding to transport. Our functional assessment of orthologous genes in A. thaliana revealed that two of the identified genes in B. rapa are involved in regulating the size of floral organs. We found a protein kinase superfamily protein involved in petal width, an important trait in plant attractiveness to pollinators. Moreover, we found a histone lysine methyltransferase (HKMT) associated with stamen length.Altogether, our study shows that hoverfly pollination leads to rapid evolution toward the selfing syndrome mediated by polygenic changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Pollination is essential for both fruit production as well as genetic variations. • Dichogamous nature of walnut is hindering pollination, fruit set and breeding. • Inter-specific hybrids offer considerable variations and genetic diversity. • Better understanding of pollination mechanisms can reduce PFA in walnuts. Pollination promotes both fruit production as well as genetic variations in fruit crops. Walnut belongs to the deciduous, monoecious, anemophilous and self-compatible fruit tree. Regardless of self-compatibility, due to dichogamous nature of crop it is hindering pollination, fruit set and breeding in walnut. Pollination mechanisms in walnut are not completely understood, and this unusually complex pollination behavior necessitates that we improve our mechanistic understanding of cytology, flower and pollen morphology, pollen collection, storage and germination and pollination process in walnut. A deeper understanding of pollination mechanisms is vital for fruit production as well as to reduce pistillate flower abortion (PFA) and to speed up future walnut breeding and varietal improvement by enhancing genetic diversity and developing hybrid verities targeted for having desirable traits like lateral bearing, precocity, batter fruit quality, high productivity, earlier harvest and resistance to late-spring frost, cherry leaf roll virus (CLRV), blight and pistillate flower abortion. A comprehensive grasp of walnut pollination mechanisms enables experts to offer more effective technical guidance to walnut growers. This article presents recent advancements in our understanding, consolidating pertinent and up-to-date information on walnut pollination mechanisms into a single resource for the first time. It serves as a valuable reference for researchers engaged in horticultural research, particularly in the domains of pollination, fruit production, and walnut tree breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attracting pollinators to achieve successful reproduction is a key challenge for wild plants that may be disturbed by complex multispecies interactions in nature. Pairwise plant–pollinator interactions have traditionally been studied for decades, while ignoring other ecological players may obscure a comprehensive understanding on how plants recruit partners or combat enemies in the pollination process. Hence, integrated studies considering the inherent complexity of ecological interactions are needed, which may open up new perspectives for deciphering intricate systems and predicting ecological consequences.We examined the presence of nectar yeasts using a combination of high‐throughput sequencing, cultivation and microscopy and quantified floral herbivory by evaluating the incidence of flowers with visible holes in 13 natural populations of Iris bulleyana in the Hengduan Mountains of southwest China during 2017–2022. We combined yeast inoculation and herbivore manipulation treatments to illustrate the isolated and combined impacts of two contrasting nectarivorous organisms, the ascomycetous yeast Metschnikowia reukaufii and adult sawflies, on pollinator visitation and plant reproductive success in two populations. In the lab, we first employed gas chromatography–mass spectrometry to profile the volatile metabolites of yeast‐inoculated nectar relative to control, followed by a behavioural bioassay to test the preference of honeybees for these microbial volatiles.Yeasts commonly inhabited floral nectar and insect herbivores frequently bit holes in the perianth tube to consume nectar and nectaries. Nectar yeasts indirectly facilitated plant reproduction through increased pollinator visits, probably because of microbial metabolism as honeybees preferred nectar volatiles produced by yeasts in behavioural bioassays. Insect herbivores increased total floral visits but reduced legitimate visits by inducing legitimate‐to‐robbing behavioural changes of honeybees, thus leading to lower seed production. The detrimental effect of herbivory was mitigated by the presence of yeasts, which diminished the relative proportion of robbing visits and thereby 'rescued' flowers from reproductive failure.Synthesis: Overall, we found contrasting effects of non‐pollinator species, including both micro‐ and macro‐organisms, on plant–pollinator interactions in a biodiversity hotspot, where pollination deficit may be a ubiquitous phenomenon. Our findings suggest that both microbial and herbivory effects are likely to be important in explaining the exact causes of pollen limitation in species‐rich areas, highlighting the biological context dependence of species interactions in natural ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plants that exhibit generalised pollination syndromes have been hypothesised to become invasive more easily compared with specialists, yet the degree to which specialised pollination traits inhibit plant invasions is unknown. One such specialisation is the buzz pollination syndrome, which encompasses specialised floral traits that restrict pollen access (typically poricidal anthers) and benefits from specialised insect behaviour for pollen extraction.We reviewed the literature on buzz pollination of invasive plants to assess whether: (1) plant species exhibiting specialised pollination syndromes are underrepresented as invasive species, and (2) species with specialised pollination syndromes that have become invasive can reproduce in the absence of specialist buzzing pollinators.Synthesis. We found 2.5% (117/4630) of invasive angiosperms have poricidal anthers, which is an underrepresentation of the proportion of global angiosperms that are estimated to have poricidal anthers (6%–10%). Most invasive buzz‐pollinated plants are genetically self‐compatible (97%), but only 43% can set fruit in the absence of a pollinator. Our findings highlight the importance of establishing new pollinator mutualisms for sexual reproduction. However, we identified six non‐buzzing behaviours used to extract pollen from plants with poricidal anthers, which is important where buzzing pollinators may be absent or not attracted to newly introduced plant species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the need for a shift in regulatory toxicology from animal testing to New Approach Methods (NAMs). The authors introduce the "CHANGE" project, which aims to promote the use of NAMs through system-level interventions. The project takes an interdisciplinary approach and involves stakeholders from various sectors and countries. The article outlines the methodology of the project and highlights the challenges and opportunities associated with implementing NAMs. It emphasizes the importance of inclusive participation and collaboration to overcome these challenges and promote the use of NAMs. [Extracted from the article]

Hibisceae subtribe Trionum is the largest clade within Hibiscus s.l. and contains genera with a wide range of growth forms: herbaceous (Abelmoschus), shrubs (Malvaviscus), trees (Wercklea), and exceptionally lianas. The rare and localized Thepparatia species are unique in that they combine a lianescent habit and trioecy. Several problems have delayed the study of Hibisceae classification including low genetic variability, lack of synapomorphic morphological characters, transoceanic dispersal events, and allopolyploidy. Here, we present a comprehensive phylogenomic hypothesis of Thepparatia based on analyses of the maternally inherited chloroplast and biparentally inherited nuclear ribosomal cistron sequences, and compare these results with its speciation, karyology, and breeding system. Chloroplast genomes in subtribe Trionum were highly conserved except in Abelmoschus where four additional genes were duplicated. Recent diploid interspecific hybridization is suggested in Thepparatia sipsongpannaensis between T. fragrans and T. scandens during the Pleistocene, around 640 000 years ago. Our observations also indicate Thepparatia have a trioecious breeding system that combined with a unique habit, and a highly localized distribution pattern, have created cross-pollination barriers and ecological specialization. This suggests hybridization events are rare but evolutionary significant in subtribe Trionum. Finally, our study supports important nomenclature changes: the synonymization of Hibiscus austroyunnanensis with Thepparatia fragrans and the publication of a new species, Thepparatia sipsongpannaensis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In some biogeographic regions, many threatened plant species occur in habitats that periodically experience bushfire. However, we currently have relatively little information on how important plant–animal and plant–fungus interactions are affected by these fires. For the threatened sexually deceptive orchid Caladenia tessellata we test whether pollination rate, frequency of florivory, and the species of mycorrhizae the plant associates with differ between burnt and unburnt sites. Interestingly, pollination rates were unaffected by fire, demonstrating that populations of the thynnine wasp pollinator can persist post-fire. However, there was a significant negative relationship between number of flowers in a population and pollination success, which is likely a by-product of a deceptive pollination strategy. Despite the presence of vertebrate herbivores, florivory rates were low in both burnt and unburnt sites. Caladenia tessellata associated primarily with the mycorrhiza Serendiptia australiana , regardless of fire history. While our results suggest resilience to a one-off summer fire for the ecological interactions that we measured, it would be interesting to investigate the effects of fire frequency and time of year. High reproductive rates in small populations of C. tessellata suggest these populations may be viable and that retaining them is a high priority for conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]