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Honest floral signalling traits vary across and within populations in an insect-pollinated plant

Eisen, Katherine E. LU ; Boutsi, Sotiria ; Halley, John M. ; Pace, Loretta ; Petrén, Hampus LU ; Thosteman, Hanna LU and Friberg, Magne LU (2023) In Functional Ecology 37(9). p.2511-2522
Abstract

In flowering plants that produce concealed rewards, pollinator foraging preferences may select for floral advertisement traits that are correlated with rewards. To date, studies have not focused on the potential for honest signals to vary across populations, which could occur due to differences in pollinator communities or plant mating system. We tested for variation in honest signals across and within populations and mating systems in Arabis alpina, a broadly distributed arctic-alpine perennial herb that is visited by a variable community of insects. In a greenhouse common garden, we tested for correlations between corolla area, floral scent and nectar volume in 29 populations. In 12 field populations, we examined variation in pollen... (More)

In flowering plants that produce concealed rewards, pollinator foraging preferences may select for floral advertisement traits that are correlated with rewards. To date, studies have not focused on the potential for honest signals to vary across populations, which could occur due to differences in pollinator communities or plant mating system. We tested for variation in honest signals across and within populations and mating systems in Arabis alpina, a broadly distributed arctic-alpine perennial herb that is visited by a variable community of insects. In a greenhouse common garden, we tested for correlations between corolla area, floral scent and nectar volume in 29 populations. In 12 field populations, we examined variation in pollen limitation and corolla area. Across and within populations and mating systems, larger flowers generally produced more nectar. Total scent emission was not correlated with nectar production, but two compounds—phenylacetaldehyde and benzyl alcohol—may be honest signals in some populations. Corolla area was correlated with pollen limitation only across populations. Our results suggest that honest signals may be similar across populations but may not result from contemporary direct selection on floral advertisements. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

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author
; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Arabis alpina, floral rewards, floral scent, natural selection, pollination, trait correlation, volatile organic compounds
in
Functional Ecology
volume
37
issue
9
pages
12 pages
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • scopus:85165502390
ISSN
0269-8463
DOI
10.1111/1365-2435.14405
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
0aecf063-170a-43a2-9b2d-4e2f67034fc7
date added to LUP
2023-09-19 10:11:41
date last changed
2024-05-30 10:16:48
@article{0aecf063-170a-43a2-9b2d-4e2f67034fc7,
  abstract     = {{<p>In flowering plants that produce concealed rewards, pollinator foraging preferences may select for floral advertisement traits that are correlated with rewards. To date, studies have not focused on the potential for honest signals to vary across populations, which could occur due to differences in pollinator communities or plant mating system. We tested for variation in honest signals across and within populations and mating systems in Arabis alpina, a broadly distributed arctic-alpine perennial herb that is visited by a variable community of insects. In a greenhouse common garden, we tested for correlations between corolla area, floral scent and nectar volume in 29 populations. In 12 field populations, we examined variation in pollen limitation and corolla area. Across and within populations and mating systems, larger flowers generally produced more nectar. Total scent emission was not correlated with nectar production, but two compounds—phenylacetaldehyde and benzyl alcohol—may be honest signals in some populations. Corolla area was correlated with pollen limitation only across populations. Our results suggest that honest signals may be similar across populations but may not result from contemporary direct selection on floral advertisements. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.</p>}},
  author       = {{Eisen, Katherine E. and Boutsi, Sotiria and Halley, John M. and Pace, Loretta and Petrén, Hampus and Thosteman, Hanna and Friberg, Magne}},
  issn         = {{0269-8463}},
  keywords     = {{Arabis alpina; floral rewards; floral scent; natural selection; pollination; trait correlation; volatile organic compounds}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{9}},
  pages        = {{2511--2522}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Functional Ecology}},
  title        = {{Honest floral signalling traits vary across and within populations in an insect-pollinated plant}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.14405}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/1365-2435.14405}},
  volume       = {{37}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}