Person: López Teixido, Alberto
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First Name
Alberto
Last Name
López Teixido
Affiliation
Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Faculty / Institute
Ciencias Biológicas
Department
Biodiversidad, Ecología y Evolución
Area
Botánica
Identifiers
3 results
Search Results
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Item Intraspecific variation in fruit–frugivore interactions: effects of fruiting neighborhood and consequences for seed dispersal(Oecologia, 2017) Guerra, Tadeu J.; Dayrell, Roberta L. C.; Arruda, André J.; Dáttilo, Wesley; López Teixido, Alberto; Messeder, João V. S.; Silveira, Fernando A. O.The extent of specialization/generalization continuum in fruit–frugivore interactions at the individual level remains poorly explored. Here, we investigated the interactions between the Neotropical treelet Miconia irwinii (Melastomataceae) and its avian seed dispersers in Brazilian campo rupestre. We built an individual-based network to derive plant degree of interaction specialization regarding disperser species. Then, we explored how intraspecific variation in interaction niche breadth relates to fruit availability on individual plants in varying densities of fruiting conspecific neighbors, and how these factors affect the quantity of viable seeds dispersed. We predicted broader interaction niche breadths for individuals with larger fruit crops in denser fruiting neighborhoods. The downscaled network included nine bird species and 15 plants, which varied nearly five-fold in their degree of interaction specialization. We found positive effects of crop size on visitation and fruit removal rates, but not on degree of interaction specialization. Conversely, we found that an increase in the density of conspecific fruiting neighbors both increased visitation rate and reduced plant degree of interaction specialization. We suggest that tracking fruit-rich patches by avian frugivore species is the main driver of density-dependent intraspecific variation in plants’ interaction niche breadth. Our study shed some light on the overlooked fitness consequences of intraspecific variation in interaction niches by showing that individuals along the specialization/generalization continuum may have their seed dispersed with similar effectiveness. Our study exemplifies how individual-based networks linking plants to frugivore species that differ in their seed dispersal effectiveness can advance our understanding of intraspecific variation in the outcomes of fruit–frugivore interactions.Item Size Matters: Understanding the Conflict Faced by Large Flowers in Mediterranean Environments(The Botanical Review, 2016) López Teixido, Alberto; Barrio, Miguel; Valladares, FernandoFlower size is a key trait in the reproductive ecology of animal-pollinated plants. However, pollinator-mediated selection does not always modulate this trait and environmental conditions and/or antagonist interactions may favor smaller flowers. We evaluate the occurrence of a large-flowered family in a hot and dry Mediterranean environment, mediated by a cost-benefit balance and a male–female conflict. Large flowers have sizeable benefits in terms of pollination and reproductive success and pollinators mediate selection through male function, but female fitness is context-dependent. High floral production and maintenance costs and florivore incidence in large flowers limit female function, which counteracts pollinator-mediated selection. Large flowers are highly costly in the Mediterranean and flower size is mediated by a sexual conflict between the benefits of male function and the costs of the female one. However, a short floral longevity, occasional pollen limitation and selection through maleness keep the existence of large flowers in these environments.Item Temperature-Limited Floral Longevity in the Large-Flowered Mediterranean Shrub Cistus Ladanifer (Cistaceae)(International Journal of Plant Sciences, 2015) López Teixido, Alberto; Valladares, FernandoPremise of research. Larger and longer-lived flowers are more frequently pollinated, but they are associated with high maintenance costs due to greater water usage. The Mediterranean climate limits plant reproduction and maximizes resource use efficiency, so smaller and short-lived flowers are potentially advantageous under hot and dry conditions. Methodology. We experimentally evaluated the relationship between the floral longevity of Cistus ladanifer, a large-flowered Mediterranean shrub, and pollination, flower size, and temperature at two different altitudes with contrasting climatic conditions. We hypothesized that flower size and longevity would be reduced in the drier and hotter conditions of the lower-altitude site. In addition, we expected that floral longevity would decrease with experimental pollen deposition, flower size, and temperature. We pollinated and capped flowers to evaluate the variation in floral longevity by comparing actual and potential floral longevity at low and high altitudes. Pivotal results. In agreement with our hypothesis, flower size was observed to increase with altitude, but, contrary to expectations, floral longevity decreased at the high altitude since temperature increased during the flowering time. Floral longevity tended to be short but depended on pollination, such that potential floral longevity was greater than actual floral longevity. Capped flowers lasted longer (1.31 ± 0.65 d) than control (0.95 ± 0.39 d) or hand-pollinated (0.60 ± 0.08 d) flowers. At the high altitude, larger flowers and higher temperatures resulted in a reduction in both the observed and potential floral longevity, but temperature had a differential effect in limiting potential floral longevity. Conclusions. Our experimental survey reported short-lived flowers and limitations in floral longevity when flowers were larger and temperatures were higher. Overall, the results reveal an important effect of temperature on increasing floral maintenance costs, imposing selective pressures on flower size, and longevity in large-flowered Mediterranean plants.