caa a22 4500 477091016 CHVBK 20180405111515.0 cr unu---uuuuu 170330e19961101xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/BF01237712 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/BF01237712 Effects of pollinia removal and insertion on flower longevity in Chloraea alpina (Orchidaceae) [Elektronische Daten] [Sonia Clayton, Marcelo Aizen] Summary: Although it is known that stigmatic pollen deposition may trigger early flower senescence, the existence of a similar plastic response of flower lifespan to pollen removal has been much less studied. Here we report on a factorial, manipulative experiment in which all 2 × 2 flower combinations of pollinia removal and stigmatic pollinia insertion were performed in inflorescences of the Patagonian ground orchidChloraea alpina. This experiment was conducted in the laboratory, in a population of cut inflorescences and in the field. We hypothesized that if expected fitness gains, through both the male and female functions, were weighed against the costs of flower maintenance, then early flower senescence should be triggered by either pollinia removal or insertion. The shortest flower lifespan would be expected in flowers where both processes occurred. Results showed that flower longevity was very strongly affected by pollinia insertion, reducing the flower lifespan by approximately 60%. The response of pollinia removal was much weaker. A significant reduction in flower longevity caused by pollinia removal was only detected in unpollinated flowers (i.e. no pollinia inserted). Within the racemose inflorescences, flowers in basal positions lived longer than flowers in terminal ones, which might be evidence of the importance of resource availability in determining maximum flower longevity. The observed responses of flower lifespan plasticity to pollinia manipulation only partially supported our expectations based on fitness benefit—cost relationships. Other factors that might explain these discrepancies are the different fitness gains that may indeed accrue to the processes of pollinia removal and insertion as they occur in nature, donor manipulation of the recipient flower lifespan associated with the evolution of pollen clustering into pollinia and physiological constraints in terms of the extent to which flower longevity may respond to pollen removal. Chapman & Hall, 1996 orchids nationallicence flower longevity nationallicence phenotypic plasticity nationallicence pollinia manipulation nationallicence Clayton Sonia Departamento de Ecología, Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Centro Regional Bariloche, Unidad Postal Universidad, San Carlos de Bariloche, 8400, Río Negro, Argentina aut Aizen Marcelo Departamento de Ecología, Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Centro Regional Bariloche, Unidad Postal Universidad, San Carlos de Bariloche, 8400, Río Negro, Argentina aut Evolutionary Ecology Kluwer Academic Publishers 10/6(1996-11-01), 653-660 0269-7653 10:6<653 1996 10 10682 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01237712 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01237712 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Clayton Sonia Departamento de Ecología, Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Centro Regional Bariloche, Unidad Postal Universidad, San Carlos de Bariloche, 8400, Río Negro, Argentina aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Aizen Marcelo Departamento de Ecología, Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Centro Regional Bariloche, Unidad Postal Universidad, San Carlos de Bariloche, 8400, Río Negro, Argentina aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Evolutionary Ecology Kluwer Academic Publishers 10/6(1996-11-01), 653-660 0269-7653 10:6<653 1996 10 10682 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer