Mobility of Impatiens capensis flowers: effect on pollen deposition and hummingbird foraging

Flexible pedicels are characteristic of bird-pollinated plants, yet have received little attention in studies of hummingbird-flower interactions. A major implication of flexible pedicels is that flowers may move during pollination. We examined whether such motion affected interactions between ruby-t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Oecologia Vol. 105; no. 2; pp. 243 - 246
Main Authors:	Hurlbert, A.H, Hosoi, S.A, Temeles, E.J, Ewald, P.W. (Amherst Coll., MA (USA). Dept. of Biology)
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Berlin Springer-Verlag 01-01-1996 Springer
Subjects:	ADAPTACION ADAPTATION ANATOMIA DE LA PLANTA ANATOMIE VEGETALE Animal and plant ecology Animal, plant and microbial ecology Archilochus colubris Autoecology Biological and medical sciences Birds COLIBRI Corolla FLEUR FLORES FLOWERS Foraging Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology HABITOS DE CRECIMIENTO HUMMINGBIRDS IMPATIENS Impatiens capensis Insect pollination Nectar OISEAU MOUCHE Pedicels PLANT ANATOMY Plant Animal Interactions PLANT ANIMAL RELATIONS PLANT HABIT Plants and fungi POLINIZACION Pollen POLLINATION POLLINISATION PORT DE LA PLANTE RELACIONES PLANTA ANIMAL RELATION PLANTE ANIMAL United States North America Massachusetts America Nectar Flower Mobility Annual plant Pollination Pollinator Vertebrata Impatiens capensis Animal plant relation Dicotyledones Morphology Angiospermae Balsaminaceae Spermatophyta Aves Flower morphology Archilochus colubris Hummingbird
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Summary:	Flexible pedicels are characteristic of bird-pollinated plants, yet have received little attention in studies of hummingbird-flower interactions. A major implication of flexible pedicels is that flowers may move during pollination. We examined whether such motion affected interactions between ruby-throated humming-birds (Archilochus colubris) and jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) by increasing pollen deposition and by altering the effectiveness of nectar removal. For I. capensis, flower mobility enhanced pollen deposition: birds had significantly longer contact with anthers and more pollen deposited on their bills and crowns when foraging at mobile flowers than at flowers that had been experimentally immobilized. In contrast, flower mobility imposed a cost on hummingbirds by significantly increasing their handling times and reducing their extraction rates relative to their interactions with immobile flowers. Field observations indicated that the motion observed during hummingbird visits did not occur when bees (Bombus spp., Apis mellifera) visited I. capensis flowers, which suggests that the mobility of I. capensis flowers is an adaptation for hummingbird pollination.
Bibliography:	F63 97K4902 L20 ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23 ObjectType-Article-1 ObjectType-Feature-2
ISSN:	0029-8549 1432-1939
DOI:	10.1007/bf00328553