Experimental assessment of the functional morphology of inflorescences of Daucus carota (Apiaceae): testing the ‘fly catcher effect’

Functional Ecology - Tập 14 Số 4 - Trang 445-454 - 2000
Ellen Lamborn1,2, Jeff Ollerton2
1Present address: School of Biological Sciences, Hatherly Laboratories, University of Exeter, Prince of Wales Road, Exeter EX4 4PS, UK.
2School of Environmental Science, University College Northampton, Park Campus, Northampton NN2 7AL, UK

Tóm tắt

Abstract1. The functional significance of inflorescence morphology of Daucus carota L. (Apiaceae) was tested using an inflorescence manipulation experiment. Specifically, we sought to explain the role (if any) in pollination of the dark central floret of this species.2. In central England, D. carota was found to be pollinated by a taxonomically wide range of insects that varied in their inflorescence visitation rates and in their pollen loads. There was also variation in abundance of some taxa between the 2 years of this study.3. By removing the dark central floret and adding false florets we sought to affect pollinator visitation rates and seed set in a manner consistent with the ‘fly catcher effect’ hypothesis of Eisikowitch (1980). Taxa responded to these manipulations but not in ways that shed light on the adaptive role of the dark central floret. Seed set was likewise unaffected in any consistent way.4. The role of the dark central floret remains an enigma. We speculate, following Darwin (1888), that the dark central floret may now be functionless and possibly represents a trait that has persisted long after its original function has been lost.

Từ khóa


Tài liệu tham khảo

Bohart G.E., 1960, Insect pollinators of carrots in Utah

10.1111/j.1558-5646.1994.tb01294.x

10.1006/anbo.1998.0594

10.1086/285290

10.1146/annurev.es.15.110184.001355

Darwin C., 1888, The Different Forms of Flowers on Plants of the Same Species

Daumann E., 1973, Über die vermientliche Bedeutung der Zentralblüte (n) in der Dolde von Daucus carota L. für die Bestäubungsökologie und als Schutz vor Weidetieren, Preslia, 45, 320

10.1080/00222938000770611

10.2307/2265576

10.1007/BF02869758

Gould S.J., 1979, The spandrels of St Marcos and the Panglossian paradigm: a critique of the adaptationist programme, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B, 205, 581

10.1017/S0094837300004310

Hawthorn L.R., 1956, Carrot seed yield and germination as affected by different levels of insect pollination, Proceedings of the American Society for Horticulture, 67, 384

10.1007/978-1-4613-1165-2_3

10.2307/2446018

Knuth P., 1908, Handbook of Flower Pollination, Vol. II

10.1111/j.1469-8137.1989.tb00335.x

10.1139/b73-248

10.1111/j.1365-2435.2005.00961.x

10.2307/2261338

10.1038/29409

10.1007/s004420050794

Ollerton J.&Watts S.(2000)Phenotype space and floral typology: towards an objective assessment of pollination syndromes.Det Norske Videnskaps‐Akademi I. Matematisk‐Naturvitenskapelig Klasse Avhandlinger Ny Seriein press.

Owens S.J., 1974, PhD Thesis

10.2307/2260655

10.1111/j.1558-5646.1961.tb03128.x

Proctor M., 1996, The Natural History of Pollination

10.1086/417909

Rothschild M., 1972, Phytochemical Ecology

Stace C., 1997, New Flora of the British Isles

10.2307/2446214

10.1007/BF00346001

10.1016/B978-0-12-583980-8.50017-X

10.2307/3546930

10.1038/302422a0

10.2307/2265575

10.2307/2426878

10.2307/3545338

Willis J.C., 1895, Flowers and insects in Great Britain. I, Annals of Botany, 9, 227, 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aob.a090737

10.1093/oxfordjournals.aob.a088919

10.2307/2426263

10.1111/j.1095-8312.1995.tb01071.x

10.1080/00222937200770621

Thông tin
Thông tin xuất bản

Functional Ecology

Tập 14 Số 4

445-454

Thông tin tác giả