<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Pollinator richness, abundance and visitation frequency may be affected by the abundance of floral resources and abiotic factors, influencing plant reproductive success. We analysed whether the diversity, abundance and frequency of butterfly visitation on <italic>Lantana camara</italic> vary across the year in a tropical urban landscape and whether this variation in butterfly community influences plant’s reproductive success. A two-period survey, referred to here as rainier and drier seasons, was carried out in 12 spatially independent plants. Five pollination treatments were applied: single visit, hand cross-pollination, hand self-pollination, spontaneous self-pollination and open pollination (control). A total of 15,749 flowers were used for fruit production analysis. Butterfly richness, abundance and the reproductive success of <italic>L. camara</italic> increased in the drier season. Open pollination was ninefold more reproductively successful during the drier season. Fruit production of hand cross-pollinated plants was threefold higher than open-pollinated plants during the rainier season. No significant difference was found between these treatments in the drier season, attesting the highest abundance of pollination during this period. We provide evidence that changes in the pollinator community affect fruit production. The increase in pollinator diversity allows different visitors to pollinate the plant, increasing fruit set through functional complementarity. This effort establishes baseline data of plant–pollinator interactions for further long-term investigations across different weather seasons. The understanding of <italic>L. camara</italic> and butterflies’ synergism will support conservation measures of pollinator populations.</p>
</abstract>

Pollinator richness, abundance and visitation frequency may be affected by the abundance of floral resources and abiotic factors, influencing plant reproductive success. We analysed whether the diversity, abundance and frequency of butterfly visitation on Lantana camara vary across the year in a tropical urban landscape and whether this variation in butterfly community influences plant’s reproductive success. A two-period survey, referred to here as rainier and drier seasons, was carried out in 12 spatially independent plants. Five pollination treatments were applied: single visit, hand cross-pollination, hand self-pollination, spontaneous self-pollination and open pollination (control). A total of 15,749 flowers were used for fruit production analysis. Butterfly richness, abundance and the reproductive success of L. camara increased in the drier season. Open pollination was ninefold more reproductively successful during the drier season. Fruit production of hand cross-pollinated plants was threefold higher than open-pollinated plants during the rainier season. No significant difference was found between these treatments in the drier season, attesting the highest abundance of pollination during this period. We provide evidence that changes in the pollinator community affect fruit production. The increase in pollinator diversity allows different visitors to pollinate the plant, increasing fruit set through functional complementarity. This effort establishes baseline data of plant–pollinator interactions for further long-term investigations across different weather seasons. The understanding of L. camara and butterflies’ synergism will support conservation measures of pollinator populations.

Temporal Variation in Pollinators’ Visitation of <italic>Lantana camara</italic> in a Tropical Urban Landscape: Does Butterfly Abundance and Richness Drive the Fruit Set?

Ekológia (Bratislava)

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Temporal Variation in Pollinators’ Visitation of  in a Tropical Urban Landscape: Does Butterfly Abundance and Richness Drive the Fruit Set?

Pollinator richness, abundance and visitation frequency may be affected by the abundance of floral resources and abiotic factors, influencing plant...

Temporal Variation in Pollinators’ Visitation of Lantana camara in a Tropical Urban Landscape: Does Butterfly Abundance and Richness Drive the Fruit Set?

Published Online: Apr 22, 2022

Page range: 46 - 56

Received: May 27, 2021

Accepted: Aug 31, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/eko-2022-0006

Keywords
Lepidoptera, Verbenaceae, plant–pollinator interactions, fruit set, Amazon

© 2022 Kelve Cézar et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Temporal Variation in Pollinators’ Visitation of Lantana camara in a Tropical Urban Landscape: Does Butterfly Abundance and Richness Drive the Fruit Set?

Published Online: Apr 22, 2022

Page range: 46 - 56

Received: May 27, 2021

Accepted: Aug 31, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/eko-2022-0006

KeywordsLepidoptera, Verbenaceae, plant–pollinator interactions, fruit set, Amazon

© 2022 Kelve Cézar et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
Lepidoptera, Verbenaceae, plant–pollinator interactions, fruit set, Amazon