Abstract
Pollination services from animals are critical for both crop production and reproduction in wild plant species. Accurately measuring the relative contributions of different animal taxa to pollination service delivery is essential for identifying key pollinators. However, widely used measures of pollinator effectiveness (e.g., single visit pollen deposition) may be inaccurate where plant reproduction is strongly constrained by pollen quality. Here, we test the efficacy of single and multiple pollinator visits for measuring pollinator performance in a model plant species (apple, Malus domestica Borkh) that is strongly limited by pollen quality. We determined pollination success using a suite of measures (pollen deposition, pollen tube growth, fruit and seed set) from single and multiple pollinator visits. We found that pollen deposition from a single pollinator visit seldom resulted in the growth of pollen tubes capable of eliciting ovule fertilisation and never resulted in fruit or seed production. In contrast, multiple pollinator visits frequently initiated the growth of pollen tubes capable of ovule fertilisation and often led to fruit and seed production. Our findings suggest that single visit pollen deposition may provide a poor measure of pollinator performance when linked to reproductive success of plant species that are constrain by pollen quality. Alternatively, pollen tube growth from single and multiple pollinator visits can provide a measure of pollinator performance that is more closely linked to plant reproduction.
Highlights
Pollination services from animals are critical for both crop production and reproduction in wild plant species
This positive association was stronger for pollen tube growth at the top of the style compared to pollen deposition (Table S2)
Where plant reproduction is strongly constrained by pollen quality, our results suggest that quantifying pollen tube growth from multiple visits can provide a more accurate measure of pollinator performance
Summary
Pollination services from animals are critical for both crop production and reproduction in wild plant species. Pollen tube growth from single and multiple pollinator visits can provide a measure of pollinator performance that is more closely linked to plant reproduction. Quantifying pollinator performance is invariably challenging because of the complex interrelated processes involved in the transfer of pollen from donor to recipient flowers, and the processes that subsequently determine seed production[3] This complexity has resulted in researchers employing a myriad of approaches to measure pollinator performance to estimate contributions to plant reproduction. Previous studies have shown that visitation frequency is correlated with plant r eproduction[5,6,7] Such proxy measures may not accurately reflect pollinator contributions to plant reproduction because they rely on various assumptions (e.g., that all pollinators are effective or that all pollen deposited is capable of eliciting seed production)[3]. By accounting for both pollen quantity and quality, measuring pollen tube growth rather than stigmatic pollen deposition may provide a more meaningful measure of pollinator performance that is linked to plant reproduction
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