RT Journal Article
T1 Among‐species variation in flower size determines florivory in the largest tropical wetland
A1 Ortiz, Gabriela L.
A1 Columbano, Yasmin
A1 de Melo, Maicon Velasco
A1 Boaventura, Maria Gabriela
A1 Aoki, Camila
A1 Cornelissen, Tatiana
A1 Souza, Camila S.
A1 López Teixido, Alberto
AB Premise. Flower damage caused by florivores often has negative consequences for plant reproduction. However, the factors affecting plant–florivore interactions are still poorly understood, especially the role of abiotic factors and interspecific variation in florivory within ecosystems. Thus, the patterns of florivory levels and its consequences for plant communities need to be investigated further. Methods. We assessed the influence of abiotic factors related to climatic seasonality, of phylogenetic relationships among plants, and of functional attributes associated with attractiveness to pollinators on florivory incidence and intensity in the Pantanal, the world's largest tropical wetland. Between December 2020 and November 2021, the percentage of flowers attacked (incidence) and petal area removed (intensity) by florivores were examined in 51 species from 25 families, considering flowering season, the substrate where the plants occur, and flower attributes as potentially determining factors on florivory levels. Results. Phylogeny and environmental factors did not have a significant influence on florivory. The only determinant of interspecific variation in florivory incidence and intensity was flower size, where larger flowers experienced higher florivory levels regardless of season and substrate, while flower arrangement and color were not significant factors. Conclusions. Our study is one of the first to estimate the community-wide effects of biotic and abiotic factors on both the incidence and the intensity of florivory. The magnitude of this plant–florivore interaction may reduce reproductive success and entail selective pressures on plant attractiveness to pollinators.
PB Botanical Society of America
SN 0002-9122
YR 2023
FD 2023-05-14
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/122785
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/122785
LA eng
NO Ortiz, G. L., Columbano, Y., de Melo, M. V., Boaventura, M. G., Aoki, C., Cornelissen, T., Souza, C. S., & Teixido, A. L. (2023). Among-species variation in flower size determines florivory in the largest tropical wetland. American Journal of Botany, 110(7). https://doi.org/10.1002/AJB2.16186
NO This study was funded by the Organization of American States (OAS) and the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) through the project “Fatores biológicos e climáticos que determinam a incidência de florivoria em uma área tropical húmida” (No. 131424/2020-3). The study was also partially funded by the Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS, Brazil) and Fundação de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento do Ensino, Ciência e Tecnologia de Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil (FUNDECT) through the project “Reprodução de angiospermas no Pantanal: fenologia e redes ecológicas” (No. 59/300.048/2015). M.V.D. was funded with an MsC scholarship from the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES, Brazil), Finance Code 001. T.C. was partially funded by CNPq and FAPEMIG, and M.G.B. was partially funded by CAPES (Finance code 001).
NO Organization of American States
NO Conselho nacional de desenvolvimento cientifico e technologico (Brazil)
NO Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul
NO Fundação de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento do Ensino, Ciência e Tecnologia de Mato Grosso do Sul (Brazil)
NO CAPES (Brazil)
NO Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais
DS Docta Complutense
RD 17 dic 2025