Abstract
Leucojum aestivum L. is a wetland-dependent perennial geophyte occurring in Europe and western Asia. It is self-incompatible, with high level of fruit-set and seed-set. Yet, its pollinators are poorly known. Here, we present the most recent research on potential pollinators of L. aestivum. We collected data on flower-visiting and pollen-carrying arthropods in three populations of the species in the River Po plain (N-Italy), where L. aestivum occurs mainly in forests with Alnus glutinosa and Fraxinus sp. pl. close to rivers. We studied a wild population, a new reintroduced population and an ex situ population located at the Botanical Garden of the University of Pavia. Our study identified 18 arthropod taxa carrying L. aestivum pollen; the soft-winged flower beetle Dasytes plumbeus (Coleoptera: Melyridae) and the sac-spider Clubiona sp. pl. (Araneae: Clubionidae) were the most frequent visitors. Hymenoptera only occasionally visited L. aestivum flowers (e.g. the sweat bee Lasioglossum punctatissimum). D. plumbeus, the long-horned beetle Grammoptera ruficornis (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), Clubiona sp. pl. and L. punctatissimum resulted in the taxa with the highest average abundance of pollen grains on their body suggesting a potential role in L. aestivum pollination. Differences in flower-visiting and pollen-carrying arthropods were observed between the three populations, with a decreasing taxonomic diversity of visiting species from the wild population to the ex situ population. Our results, based on direct observation in the field, are partially in contrast with a previous study on L. aestivum pollinators that suggested diurnal and nocturnal Lepidoptera and occasionally bees as main pollinators for the species.
Highlights
Leucojum aestivum L. subsp. aestivum (L. aestivum hereafter) is a geophyte in the Amaryllidaceae family (Parolo et al 2011)
Given the importance that pollinators have in the reproductive success of L. aestivum, in this study, we investigated the flower-visiting and pollen-carrying arthropods at the southern range edge of the species, in the plain of the River Po (Northern Italy) in three different populations: a large wild population, a population recently reintroduced and an ex situ population cultivated in a botanical garden
Three spatially distinct populations were chosen for the present study in the Po Valley, in the Province of Pavia (Lombardy, N-Italy): a wild population of L. aestivum located within the special area of conservation (SAC) IT2080019 ‘‘Boschi di Vaccarizza’’ (Municipality of Linarolo), a reintroduced population located within the SAC IT2080007 ‘‘Garzaia di Bosco Basso’’ (Municipality of Breme and Sartirana Lomellina) and an ex situ population located at the Botanical Garden of the University of Pavia, inside the city of Pavia (Fig. 1)
Summary
Leucojum aestivum L. subsp. aestivum (L. aestivum hereafter) is a geophyte in the Amaryllidaceae family (Parolo et al 2011). L. aestivum is listed in the global IUCN red list as least concern (Lansdown et al 2014), but it is locally threatened (e.g. VU in Italy, Orsenigo et al 2021; see Parolo et al (2011) for an overview of the national status of L. aestivum in Europe) and a species of conservation interest, locally. It grows in wetland plant communities, like wet forests in the lowland river valleys and in wet meadows, near different types of water bodies such as rivers, swamps and lake shores, banks of canals and periodically inundated sites, from 0 to 350 m a.s.l. L. aestivum is scattered in northern Italy, river flooding and pollinators may have a role in maintaining the gene flow among populations (Gentili et al 2018)
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