Abstract
Nectar is crucial to maintain plant-pollinator mutualism. Nectar quality (nutritional composition) can vary strongly between individuals of the same plant species. The factors driving such inter-individual variation have however not been investigated closer. We investigated nectar quality of field scabious, Knautia arvensis in different grassland plant communities varying in species composition and richness to assess whether nectar quality can be affected by the surrounding plant community. We analyzed (with high performance liquid chromatography) the content of carbohydrates, overall amino acids, and essential amino acids. Amino acid and carbohydrate concentrations and proportions varied among plant individuals and with the surrounding plant community but were not related to the surrounding plant species richness. Total and individual carbohydrate concentrations were lowest, while proportions of the essential amino acids, valine, isoleucine, leucine (all phagostimulatory), and lysine were highest in plant species communities of the highest diversity. Our results show that K. arvensis nectar chemistry varies with the composition of the surrounding plant community, which may alter the taste and nutritional value and thus affect the plant’s visitor spectrum and visitation rate. However, the strong inter-individual variation in nectar quality requires additional studies (e.g., in semi-field studies) to disentangle different biotic and abiotic factors contributing to inter-individual nectar chemistry in a plant-community context.
Highlights
Plants are important bottom up partners of multitrophic interactions [1,2,3]
We investigated whether nectar from K. arvensis plants grown in plant communities that differed in species richness (i.e., K. arvensis monocultures and communities with 4, 8, and 16 plant species) and composition of plants differed in the composition of carbohydrates and/or amino acids as well as the ratio of all carbohydrates to all amino acids
K. arvensis individuals from communities differing in plant species richness had specific compositions of amino acids when proportions were considered (Adonis: r2 = 0.12, p < 0.01; Table 1, Figures 2a and S2) and of carbohydrates when concentrations were considered (r2 = 0.29, p < 0.001; Table 1, Figures 2b and S2)
Summary
Interactions between plants and animals further drive important ecosystem functions and processes, such as herbivory, pollination or seed dispersal [1,4,5,6], because plants provide a habitat and resources for many animals [7,8]. These interactions in turn depend on the composition and diversity of the surrounding plant community [1]. Plant community composition directly determines the spectrum of interaction partners, as different animals require different spectra of plant species for resource acquisition [9]. Flower resources such as pollen and nectar, attract flower-visiting and pollinating insects, as they provide
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