Petit Sophie, Scanlon Annette T, Naikatini Alivereti, Pukala Tara
UniSA STEM University of South Australia Mawson Lakes South Australia Australia.
NatureFiji-MareqetiViti Suva Fiji.
Ecol Evol. 2024 Feb 9;14(2):e10997. doi: 10.1002/ece3.10997. eCollection 2024 Feb.
Bat pollination of in Fiji, a genus that was presumed to be pollinated by bees, posits that other species may be bat-pollinated, with implications for conservation and the understanding of angiosperm evolution. Botanical descriptions of some corolla behaviours ('falling as a whole') suggest bat removal of permanently closed corollas, as in . Considering the remoteness of species of interest, we reviewed some floral traits to hypothesise what they may mean for bat pollination of the genus. We investigated pollen grains apertures and reviewed literature concerning corolla behaviour and colour, and pollen apertures and presentation, including pores and staminodes. Our samples had dramatically different ratios of tricolpate to tetracolpate pollen grains, a trait that does not exclude pollination by bees. Petal colour polymorphism occurs, with mixed colours proportionately less common in flowers with corollas that open. The proportion of species with staminodes did not differ between those presumed to be pollinated by bats and others, but anthers of the former were significantly more likely to have apical pores, and stamens all had similar length or were slightly longer in the middle, whereas stamens in two distinct groups occurred in 55% of bee-pollinated species. Pollen heteromorphy may facilitate pollination by different taxa in tropical environments. However, anther apical pores and stamen uniformity are more likely to be associated with bat-pollinated species than are other morphologies. could be a useful model to examine evolutionary aspects of colour, heteranthery, staminodes and pollen heteromorphy. Only field work will verify bat pollination and the implications of bat dependence for species.
在斐济，蝙蝠对一个原本被认为由蜜蜂授粉的属进行授粉，这表明其他该属物种可能也是蝙蝠授粉，这对保护工作以及被子植物进化的理解具有重要意义。一些花冠行为（“整体掉落”）的植物学描述表明，蝙蝠会移除永久闭合的花冠，就像在[具体植物名称未提及]中那样。考虑到相关物种分布偏远，我们研究了该属的一些花部特征，以推测它们对于蝙蝠授粉可能意味着什么。我们调查了花粉粒的萌发孔，并查阅了有关花冠行为和颜色、花粉萌发孔和展示方式（包括孔和退化雄蕊）的文献。我们的样本中三沟花粉粒与四沟花粉粒的比例差异极大，这一特征并不排除蜜蜂授粉的可能性。花瓣存在颜色多态性，在开放花冠的花朵中，混合颜色相对不那么常见。具有退化雄蕊的物种比例在被认为由蝙蝠授粉的物种和其他物种之间没有差异，但前者的花药明显更有可能具有顶端孔，并且雄蕊全部长度相似或中间部分略长，而在55%的由蜜蜂授粉的物种中，雄蕊分为两个不同的组。花粉异型性可能有助于热带环境中不同类群的授粉。然而，花药顶端孔和雄蕊的一致性比其他形态特征更有可能与蝙蝠授粉的物种相关。[该属植物名称未提及]可能是一个研究颜色、异型花药、退化雄蕊和花粉异型性进化方面的有用模型。只有实地研究才能验证蝙蝠授粉以及蝙蝠依赖性对[该属植物名称未提及]物种的影响。
