Species Composition and Visiting Frequencies of Flower Visitors ofChromolaena odoratain a Dry Zone Forest Patch of Sri Lanka

D G R M M Kaushalya Rathnayake Rathnayake,W M G Asanga S T B Wijetunga Wijetunga

doi:10.1155/2016/8746251

D G R M M Kaushalya Rathnayake Rathnayake, W M G Asanga S T B Wijetunga Wijetunga

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/8746251

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Abstract

Plant-animal interaction has been a major theme in ecology as it has helped ecologists to rule out different patterns they observed in the surrounding environments.Chromolaena odoratais another plant species that is studied extensively as it has become a major troublesome weed in many parts of the tropics. But, handful of studies are available on pollination of this invasive plant species in dry forests and its function as a pollinator sink in these environments. The current study was carried out in a dry zone secondary forest patch in North-Central Sri Lanka to assess the diversity, abundance, and pollination strength of flower visitors associated with theC. odorata. The results suggest that the diversity of Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera is higher than the other insect orders that visitedC. odorata, but all species exerted equal pollination strength on the plant. The attraction of large numbers of insects is concluded to as one of the factors that contribute to the reproductive success ofC. odoratain dry zone forests.

Highlights

Transfer of pollen grains to the stigma of the flower gynoecium (Pollination) is the crucial event in sexual reproduction process of flowering plants that ensures their long last survival [1,2,3]
A total of 2271 flower visitations were recorded during 35 hours within 7 days of observation to C. odorata strands
Seventy-seven (77) insect flower visitors were recorded belonging to five major insect orders and twenty-five families (Table 1)

Summary

Introduction

Transfer of pollen grains to the stigma of the flower gynoecium (Pollination) is the crucial event in sexual reproduction process of flowering plants that ensures their long last survival [1,2,3]. Plants benefit from these mutualistic interactions to ensure effective cross pollination and to maintain viable population in their habitats. Disturbances that alter pollinator communities in habitats where self-incompatibale flowering plants are abundant may reduce the pollination services. Loss or low abundance of pollinating partners will lead ecologically specialized plants to edge of local extinctions. These distrupting factors can be (1) human alterations to environments reducing pollinator abundance (agriculture, pesticides effect); (2) the effect of invasive, ineffective pollinator species that exclude effective native pollinators from floral resources (pollinator competition); and (3) introduced exotic flowering plants with higer attractability than native flowering plants [5]. Tropical pollinator networks have developed an immunity against the decline of specialized pollinators but it gives no gurantee that the fidelity between interaction partners will be kept after alterations to the system occur

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