Abstract Detail

Pollination Biology

Anderson, Gregory [1], Crawford, Daniel [2], Bernardello, Gabriel [3], Santos, Arnoldo [4], Perez de Paz, Julia [5].

Reproductive Biology of Island Plants .

Islands possess an intrinsic interest for most, an attraction that is inordinate in that they constitute less than 5% of the Earth's land surface. In the plant world, however, their high regard is deserved in that 25% of the endemics are insular. Furthermore, 5-10%of insular endemics are highly threatened; thus conservation efforts are critical . Various elements of plant reproductive biology (RB) must be taken account of for a conservation plan to be successful; without successful reproduction, only the current generation will survive. Three of the four elements of RB (i.e., not including dispersal) - pollination, breeding systems and mating systems are discussed. Respectively, they are increasingly difficult to fully understand, and there is proportionately less information for each category. Furthermore, there is comprehensive information on RB for very few archipelagos. Pollinators are often conflated with flower visitors; there is relatively little complied for breeding systems of island floras; and too often such things as compatibility alone substitute for an understanding of gene flow. Not all colonists arrive on new islands at the same time, and the legendary diversification associated with morphology and ecology of island colonists may not apply in the same way to elements of RB.Island plants may also retain features of their continental relatives that can mislead conclusions about pollination. Examples are given of some pitfalls in data and interpretations, and of the growing comprehensive pictures for some archipelagos. More comprehensive data sets will facilitate comparisons among archipelagos and with continental source floras, allowing a better understanding of evolutionary scenarios and phylogenies.

Broader Impacts:

1 - University Of Connecticut, Department Of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, 75 N. Eagleville Road, Unit 43, Storrs, CT, 06269-3043, USA
2 - University Of Kansas, Department Of Ecology And Evolutionary Biology, 1200 Sunnyside Avenue, Haworth Hall, Lawrence, KS, 66045-7534, USA
3 - Museo Botanico, Avda. Velez Sarsfield 299, Cordoba, N/A, 5000, Argentina
4 - Unidad de Botánica (ICIA) , Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
5 - Jardín Botánico "Viera y Clavijo" Unidad Asociada CSIC, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Gran Canaia, Canary Islands, Spain

Keywords:
Islands
Reproductive biology
pollination
breeding systems
mating system
rpl16.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Topics
Session: 25
Location: Forsyth Room/Chase Park Plaza
Date: Tuesday, July 12th, 2011
Time: 9:15 AM
Number: 25006
Abstract ID:295