Dzul-Cauich Henry F, Munguía-Rosas Miguel A
Laboratorio de Ecología Terrestre, Departamento de Ecología Humana, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional (Cinvestav), Km. 6 Antigua Carretera a Progreso, Mérida 97310, Mexico.
Plants (Basel). 2025 May 22;14(11):1575. doi: 10.3390/plants14111575.
Urbanization often negatively impacts pollinator abundance and richness; however, its effects on different pollination components and plant reproductive success are highly variable. Previous research efforts have also shown geographic and taxonomical bias, with non-insect-pollinated plant species in tropical cities underrepresented in the literature. Although bats represent the most persistent mammal group in urban ecosystems, studies addressing the effect of urbanization on chiropterophilous plants are scarce. Here, we addressed the impacts of urbanization on flowering phenology, pollination, and reproductive success in the chiropterophilous tree (L.) Gaertn. (Malvaceae) in two major tropical cities of the Yucatan Peninsula. We found that urbanization has led to an earlier flowering phenology; however, no effect of urbanization was detected in the two pollination components evaluated: pollinator visitation rate and pollen deposition. Finally, the effects of urbanization on the reproductive success of were mixed. While marginally negative effects of urbanization were found in fruit set, positive effects were found in seed germination. These findings suggest that urban pollinators can provide similar levels of pollination services and thus lead to comparable reproductive success for in forests and cities.
城市化通常会对传粉者的数量和丰富度产生负面影响；然而，其对不同传粉组分和植物繁殖成功率的影响差异很大。以往的研究工作也存在地理和分类学上的偏差，热带城市中非昆虫传粉的植物物种在文献中的代表性不足。尽管蝙蝠是城市生态系统中最常见的哺乳动物类群，但关于城市化对蝙蝠传粉植物影响的研究却很少。在此，我们研究了城市化对尤卡坦半岛两个主要热带城市中蝙蝠传粉的树木（锦葵科）的开花物候、传粉和繁殖成功率的影响。我们发现城市化导致了开花物候提前；然而，在所评估的两个传粉组分中未检测到城市化的影响：传粉者访花率和花粉沉积。最后，城市化对的繁殖成功率的影响是复杂的。虽然在坐果率方面发现了城市化的轻微负面影响，但在种子萌发方面发现了积极影响。这些发现表明，城市传粉者可以提供类似水平的传粉服务，从而使在森林和城市中的繁殖成功率相当。
