Options
Title
Understanding pollinator foraging behaviour and transition rates between flowers is important to maximize seed set in hybrid crops
Fields of Research (FoR) 2008:
Author(s)
Gagic, Vesna
Spurr, Cameron
Publication Date
2021-02
Early Online Version
Abstract
Hybrid cauliflower production predominately relies on pollen transfer from hermaphrodite to female lines by honeybees. However, the presence of other pollinators may impact pollination success. Here, we investigate how honeybee visitation frequency and behaviour vary with plant sex and presence of blowflies and affect seed and pod set. We found substantial pollen limitation when honeybees were alone. This was likely due to their higher visitation to hermaphrodite flowers, infrequent transition from hermaphrodite to female flowers and high nectar theft in female flowers. Pollen foragers fed on nectar on hermaphrodite, but not female flowers. Moreover, when blowflies were present, the seed set was lower than that with honeybees alone. Our study highlights the importance of understanding the plant mating system and pollinator foraging behaviour with and without other species present in order to maximize seed set in hybrid crops.
Publication Type
Journal Article
Source of Publication
Apidologie, 52(1), p. 89-100
Publisher
Springer-Verlag France
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020
2020-08-17
Place of Publication
France
ISSN
1297-9678
0044-8435
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020
Peer Reviewed
Yes
HERDC Category Description
Peer Reviewed
Yes
Permanent link to this record