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74 results for “wildflower”

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dryad36/100

Potential benefits of incorporating arable wildflowers into living mulches for sustainable agriculture

Background: As agriculture has intensified, many once-common wildflowers have declined in arable landscapes, which has widespread implications for associated ecosystem services. The incorporation of sustainable practices, for example, growing living mulches (in-field, non-crop plant ground cover, maintained during the target crop growing season), can boost arable biodiversity, but few wildflower species have been utilised in this context. Aims: Our aim was to determine the suitability of arable wildflower species, once considered weeds, for use as living mulches. Methods: We first screened a number of arable wildflower species for germination when growing with a common cereal, barley (Hordeum vulgare). We then grew two (Centaurea cyanus and Scandix pecten-veneris) in pots in a glasshouse with and without barley, and grew barley alone to test the impact of the wildflowers on barley growth and biomass. Results: Neither of the wildflowers significantly negatively impacted barley biomass. Barley initially facilitated germination in S. pecten-veneris, but ultimately suppressed the above-ground biomass of both wildflowers. However, both wildflower species were able to coexist alongside barley. Conclusions: Our experiment provides evidence that wildflowers that were considered weeds in traditional agriculture have the potential to be grown alongside barley and could be incorporated as part of a living mulch.

opencc-zeroJul 2021View details →

dryad36/100

Abundance and beta-diversity of bumble bees, wildflowers, and their interactions in the Berchtesgadener Alps

The structuring of biological communities along mountain slopes is complex, and elevational range shifts in response to climate change involve more than merely tracking suitable temperature envelopes. When species move, they do so in the context of biological communities, and the outcomes of these movements depend on how and to what extent biotic interactions are reordered. Bumble bees (Hymentopera: *Bombus* spp.) are cold-adapted species associated with mountain habitats, and they are already exhibiting upslope range shifts that are expected to result in habitat loss, novel competitive interactions, and the rewiring of pollination networks. Predicting and interpreting these shifts, however, requires an understanding of the current elevational patterns of bumble bees and their floral mutualists that are being acted upon by climate change. We recorded bumble- bee-flower interactions over three years along an 1400 m elevational gradient in the German Alps. Using nonlinear modeling, we analyze the elevational patterns at the nested levels of species abundance, species β-diversity, and interaction β-diversity. We demonstrate that the tree line ecotone is (1) a distributional interface between low/mid- and high-elevation bumble bee species, (2) a threshold above which floral resource availability sharply decreases, and (3) a zone of accelerated turnover of floral composition and bumble- bee-flower interactions. The implications of these findings extend beyond the particular case of bumble bees to demonstrate that linear elevational temperature gradients are ecologically punctuated, and the outcomes of climate-induced range shifts will depend on dynamics at the tree line ecotone.

opencc-zeroApr 2022View details →

zenodo36/100

Insect visits to cherry blossoms and wildflowers in sweet cherry orchards: datasets and R scripts

This repository contains a number of datasets, all collected in commercial sweet cherry orchards in the West Midlands, UK between 2017-2019. Alleyways in these orchards were sown with native perennial plant species. Datasets include: - cherry blossom and wildflower visitors recorded on pollinator transect surveys. - fruit set and quality (in 2019) from cherry blossoms which were either exposed to insects, insect-excluded, or hand-pollinated. Additionally, all the scripts to analyse these datasets using the software R are also included.

opencc-by-4.0Mar 2023View details →

dryad36/100

King's College Cambridge wildflower meadow monitoring data: biodiversity, climate change and society

The biodiversity and climate crises are critical challenges of this century. Wildflower meadows in urban areas could provide important nature-based solutions, addressing the biodiversity and climate crises jointly, and benefitting society in the process. King's College Cambridge (England, UK) established a wildflower meadow over a portion of its iconic Back Lawn in 2019, replacing a fine lawn first laid in 1772. We used biodiversity surveys, Wilcoxon signed rank, and ANOVA models to compare species richness, abundance, and composition of plants, spiders, bugs, bats, and nematodes supported by the meadow, and remaining lawn, over three years. We estimated the climate change impact of meadow vs lawn from maintenance emissions, soil carbon sequestration, and reflectance effect. We surveyed members of the university to quantify the societal benefits of, and attitudes towards, increased meadow planting on the collegiate university estate. In spite of its small size (0.36 ha), the meadow supported approximately three times more plant species, three times more spider and bug species and individuals, and bats were recorded three times more often over the meadow than the remaining lawn. Terrestrial invertebrate biomass was 25 times higher in the meadow compared with the lawn. Fourteen species with conservation designations were recorded on the meadow (six for lawn), alongside meadow specialist species. Reduced maintenance and fertilising associated with meadow reduced emissions by an estimated 1.36 Mg CO2-e per hectare per year compared with lawn. Relative reflectance increased by 25-34% for meadow relative to lawn. Soil carbon stocks did not differ between meadow and lawn. Respondents thought meadows provided greater aesthetic, educational, and mental well-being services than lawns. In open responses, lawns were associated with undesirable elitism and social exclusion (most colleges in Cambridge restrict lawn access to senior members of the college), and respondents proved overwhelmingly in favour of meadow planting in place of lawns on the collegiate university estate. This study demonstrates the substantial benefits of small urban meadows for local biodiversity, cultural ecosystem services, and climate change mitigation, supplied at a lower cost than maintaining conventional lawn.

opencc-zeroMar 2023View details →

dryad36/100

Characterizing each step of pollination in the wildflower, Phlox drummondii, reveals a single butterfly species predominates in the pollinator assemblage

Premise: A central goal of pollination biology is to connect plants with the identity of their pollinator(s). While predictions based on floral syndrome traits are extremely useful, direct observation can reveal further details of a species' pollination biology. The wildflower, Phlox drummondii, has a floral syndrome consistent with pollination by a variety of lepidoptera. We describe pollination in P. drummondii and use empirical data to test this prediction. Methods: We directly observe each step of the pollination process in P. drummondii. First, we observe 55.5 hours of floral visitation throughout the day/evening (7:00-20:30) at sites across the species range. We use a temporal pollinator exclusion experiment to determine the contribution of diurnal and nocturnal pollination to reproductive output. We then quantify P. drummondii pollen pickup and deposition by the dominant floral visitor, Battus philenor. Finally, we test the effect of B. philenor visitation on P. drummondii reproductive output by quantifying fruit set following visitation to greenhouse-grown flowers. Results: B. philenor is the primary pollinator of P. drummondii. Pollination is largely diurnal, and we observe a variety of lepidopteran visitors during this period. However, B. philenor is by far the most frequent visitor, representing 88.5% of all observed floral visits. We show that B. philenor is not only an extremely common visitor but also an effective pollinator by demonstrating that individuals transfer pollen between flowers and that a single visit can elicit fruit set. Conclusion: Our data are consistent with the syndrome prediction of lepidopteran pollination and further reveal a single butterfly species, B. philenor, as the primary pollinator. Collectively, our study demonstrates the importance of empirical pollinator observations, adds to our understanding of pollination mechanics, and offers a specific case study of butterfly pollination.

opencc-zeroMay 2023View details →

dryad36/100

Data for: Drought and temperature stresses impact pollen production and autonomous selfing in a California wildflower, Collinsia heterophylla

Ongoing climatic changes have altered growing conditions for plants by limiting water availability and inducing unprecedented temperature increases, eliciting plant functional responses that compromise floral trait expression, reduce pollen production but promote early self-pollination. In a controlled greenhouse study, plants of Collinsia heterophylla, an annual mixed-mated hermaphrodite, were grown under temperature and water stresses. Floral trait responses and related effects on plant reproductive success were recorded. Plants grown under temperature and water stresses were shorter and had fewer leaves at flowering than control plants. Temperature-stressed plants flowered earlier and had smaller flowers that produced fewer per capita pollen grains than control and water-stressed plants. While lifetime flower production in plants experiencing temperature stress alone or water stress alone was similar to control plants, those receiving combined temperature and water stresses had significantly lower lifetime flower production. Abiotic stress did not affect investment in female traits such as ovule number per flower but impacted male traits seen as fewer pollen grains per flower. In plants experiencing abiotic stress, an increase in autonomous self-pollination was facilitated through a compromise in herkogamy, a sexual interference mechanism to promote cross-pollination. Spatial separation between stigma and anther, a measure of herkogamy, was zero or negative in stressed plants. Thus, abiotic stress responses in plants did not compromise plant reproductive success as autonomous selfing was augmented. In nature, such responses will likely reduce available nutrition for pollinators through decreased flower and pollen production.

opencc-zeroJul 2023View details →

dryad36/100