Assessing pollinators’ contribution to the reproductive success of <i>Mertensia ciliata</i>

Abstract

Shifting flowering phenologies as a result of climate change have the potential to disrupt plant-pollinator interactions through changes in temporal overlap of flowering and pollinator activity, decreasing plant fitness. Understanding current plant-pollinator interactions is key to predicting how plant fitness might be affected by such changes. The impact of temporal mismatch of flowering and pollinator activity on plant fitness should depend on how much each pollinator species contributes to a plant’s reproductive success. Using seed set to determine effectiveness, this study investigates the differences in the pollinator effectiveness of visitors of Mertensia ciliata (Boraginaceae). We conducted single pollinator visit observations and obtained average seed set per flower for each type of M. ciliata visitor. Bumble bees and muscid flies were the two primary visitors to M. ciliata. We found that bumble bees had a higher visitation rate than muscid flies and that bumble bee single visits resulted in a higher seed set per flower than muscid fly single visits. We concluded that bumble bees were more effective pollinators for M. ciliata than muscid flies. To continue elucidating plant-pollinator interactions, future research should incorporate visitation rate with pollinator effectiveness to determine pollinator importance and consider how pollinator effectiveness and importance might be impacted by climate change.

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