RT Journal Article
T1 Flower size and longevity influence florivory in the large-flowered shrub Cistus ladanifer
A1 López Teixido, Alberto
A1 Méndez, Marcos
A1 Valladares, Fernando
AB Plants with larger and longer-lived flowers receive more pollinator visits and increase reproductive success, though may also suffer more from antagonistic interactions with animals. Florivores can reduce fruit and seed production, so selection on flower size, floral longevity and/or number of flowers may thus be determined by the relative effects of both pollinators and florivores. In this study flowers of Cistus ladanifer, a large-flowered Mediterranean shrub, were monitored to evaluate the effects of flower size, floral longevity and number of flowers on levels of florivory in four populations. Number of flowers was variable but did not differ among populations. Both flower size and floral longevity of C. ladanifer showed broad variation and significantly differed among populations. Overall, 7% of flowers suffered attack by florivores, which were mainly ants picking the stamens and beetles consuming petals and pollen. Within-populations, larger and longer-lived flowers tended to be affected by florivores more frequently. The low overall incidence of florivores and its lack of between-population variation suggest that florivory may not influence intraspecific variation of these floral traits. However, moderate florivory levels on the largest and longest-lived flowers open the possibility of exerting selection towards smaller and shorter-lived flowers in some of the populations studied.
PB Elsevier
SN 1146-609X
YR 2011
FD 2011
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/94842
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/94842
LA eng
NO Teixido, Alberto L., et al. «Flower Size and Longevity Influence Florivory in the Large-Flowered Shrub Cistus Ladanifer». Acta Oecologica, vol. 37, n.o 5, septiembre de 2011, pp. 418-21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actao.2011.05.007.
NO AcknowledgementsWe are grateful to Jeff Ollerton for reviewing the English and two anonymous reviewers for providing comments. This study was supported by the REMEDINAL project (S-0505/AMB/000355) of Comunidad de Madrid, Spain, and by CONSOLIDER MONTES project (CSD2008-00040) of the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación. A.L.T. held a PDI fellowship at Rey Juan Carlos University, Spain.
NO Comunidad de Madrid
NO Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España)
NO Universidad del Rey Juan Carlos
DS Docta Complutense
RD 10 abr 2025