Insert the hummingbird skull into the flower (the flower has already exploded). bruce anderson
In a study published this week, american naturalistScientists in South Africa and Brazil have produced the first empirical evidence that rival plants compete directly for pollinator space and can influence which pollen reaches the next flower. provided.
This study suggests that plants have evolved strategies to manipulate the placement of pollen to pollinators, analogous to sperm competition in animals.
This is especially noteworthy because, unlike animals, plants do not have direct contact during mating. Instead, pollen (which carries the plant's sperm) is carried by pollinators such as birds and insects, making competition for prime space on the pollinator's body essential for reproductive success.
Professor Bruce Anderson, an evolutionary ecologist at Stellenbosch University and lead author of the study, said of the discovery: “Flowers visited by hummingbirds deposit pollen on the bird's beak, but space is limited. Some flowers have evolved a catapult mechanism to release pollen onto the hummingbird's beak, allowing rival plants to by forcefully removing the grain from the pollen to ensure that their own pollen has a better chance of being successfully transferred.”
This mechanism, known as explosive pollen placement, has been known to exist for some time, but this study provides the first quantitative evidence of its effectiveness.
The researchers used slow-motion video footage and pollen labeled with quantum dots to see how it changed. Hypenea maculanthaA deep red flower native to Brazil that uses a catapult-like mechanism to remove rival pollen from a hummingbird's beak and place its own in the same place.
The results showed that the reproductive success of plants adopting this technology was significantly improved.
Dr. Anderson points out that while competition between males is well documented in the animal kingdom, this study highlights similar competitive behavior among plants. “This adds a new dimension to the pollen system.” We understand plant reproduction. ”
Professor Vinicius Brito, a botanist at the Federal University of Uberlandia in Brazil and a co-author of the study, said that until now flower explosions have mainly been used to promote pollen placement or encourage pollinators to visit more flowers. He said that it was thought that it would encourage people to do something. However, their study also suggests that this mechanism displaces rival pollen and increases male reproductive success.
“By expelling previously deposited pollen, the flower has a better chance of successfully fertilizing the ovule,” Brito says.
The study's findings open new avenues of research into plant-pollinator interactions and the evolutionary strategies plants have developed to improve reproductive success. It also highlights how little is known about the competitive dynamics between plants during pollination.
