Effects of Road Dust on the Pollination and Reproduction of Wildflowers
Affiliation
Univ Arizona, Sch Nat Resources & EnvironmIssue Date
2017-02Keywords
Castilleja sulphureaDelphinium nuttallianum
hand dusting
Ipomopsis aggregata
Linum lewisii
seed set
Metadata
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UNIV CHICAGO PRESSCitation
Effects of Road Dust on the Pollination and Reproduction of Wildflowers 2017, 178 (2):85 International Journal of Plant SciencesRights
© 2016 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.Collection Information
This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at repository@u.library.arizona.edu.Abstract
Premise of research. Dust particles and pollen grains are similar in size. Dust deposition might therefore influence the pollination and reproduction of flowering plants. Little is known about such effects, however, despite more general interest in ecological effects of dust. Methodology. We used observational and experimental methods to explore whether dust generated by traffic on unpaved roads affects the amounts of pollen received and numbers of seeds produced by four species of native wildflowers in the western United States. Pivotal results. Flowers of Nuttall's larkspur (Delphinium nuttallianum), scarlet gilia (Ipomopsis aggregata), Lewis flax (Linumlewisii), and sulphur paintbrush (Castilleja sulphurea) growing 1-2mfrom a road received substantially more dust and less pollen than those growing 40-50 m away. We observed the same pattern when we transplanted individuals of the first two species into pots and placed pots near to compared with far from a road. Experimental "hand dusting" of scarlet gilia and Lewis flax plants also reduced stigma pollen loads to a degree that resembled the average effect of road proximity for those species. On the other hand, numbers of seeds per flower ("seed set") did not vary consistently for any species as a function of road proximity or hand-dusting treatment. Conclusions. Several mechanisms might contribute to the different effects of dust on pollen loads and seed set. Wediscuss four possible mechanisms, which we refer to as pollen excess, pollen quality, resource limitation, and compensatory herbivory. These mechanisms suggest avenues for further study of dust, pollination, and plant reproduction with this and other systems.Note
12 month embargo; ONLINE: Nov 23, 2016ISSN
1058-58931537-5315
DOI
10.1086/689282Version
Final published versionSponsors
Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL); US National Science FoundationAdditional Links
http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/689282ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1086/689282