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Pollination of the Australian cycad Cycas ophiolitica (Cycadaceae): the limited role of wind pollination in a cycad with beetle pollinator mutualists, and its ecological significance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 April 2018

John A. Hall  and
Gimme H. Walter
John A. Hall*
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
Gimme H. Walter
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
*
*Corresponding author. Email: john.hall@uq.edu.au
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Abstract:

Cycads in the Zamiaceae are well known for their host-specific insect pollination mutualisms. Pollination of Cycas in the sister family Cycadaceae is less well-documented, with beetle pollination possibly coexisting with a limited potential for wind pollination, a hypothesis we tested for C. ophiolitica in Central Queensland, Australia. Cones were associated with three species of beetle: an undescribed weevil (Curculionidae), Hapalips sp. (Erotylidae) and Ulomoides sp. (Tenebrionidae). Pollination-vector exclusion experiments compared the pollination success (quantified as % ovules pollinated per cone) of control cones against bagged or netted cones that excluded wind or insects respectively (n = 10 for all treatments). Insects do pollinate C. ophiolitica in the absence of wind, the median (first quartile-third quartile) pollination success of control plants being 83.7% (60.8–87.2%) while bagged cones, from which wind, but not insects, were excluded, pollinated at 52.9% (19.5–74.8%). For netted cones, (excluding insects but not wind), pollination fell to 12.6% (10.9–45.9%). Airborne pollen (as quantified by capture on a series of adhesive pollen traps) decreased rapidly with distance from male cones, potentially becoming ineffective for wind pollination at ~5 m. Airborne pollen load in the vicinity of female cones, and distance of females from neighbouring males, suggests wind pollination may occur sporadically, but only at high spatial densities. Although Cycas appears to be primarily insect pollinated, this limited potential for ambophily may be significant given the history of dispersal and pollinator host shifts among these cycads.

Keywords

ambophilybeetle pollinationCurculionidaecycadCycas ophioliticaHapalipshost-specific mutualismErotylidaeTenebrionidaeUlomoides
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 34 , Issue 2 , March 2018 , pp. 121 - 134
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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