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Patterns of Individual Variability in Floral Resources
Author(s) -
Real Leslie,
Rathcke Beverly J.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.144
H-Index - 294
eISSN - 1939-9170
pISSN - 0012-9658
DOI - 10.2307/1941021
Subject(s) - nectar , biology , pollinator , inflorescence , ecology , pollination , population , pollen , demography , sociology
The distribution and presentation of floral rewards to insects has been demonstrated to influence pollinator visitation rates, pollinator movements, and consequent plant fitness. However, very little is known about the extant variation in nectar rewards among individuals in a single population. Patterns of nectar production within individual shrubs of Kalmia latifolia L. (Ericaceae) were examined during summer 1985, in a Southern Appalachian health bald in Giles County, Virginia. Five inflorescences from each of 20 shrubs at two sites in the study area were bagged to exclude insect visitors. Twenty—four hour nectar production was measured using microcapillary extractions in each open flower within each of the bagged inflorescences. For each individual we monitored arithmetic mean reward per flower and variance in reward over the flowering season. There is significant variation among individuals in the mean reward/flower at both sites, but the variance in reward/flower is significant at only one site. The mean reward and the variance in reward are positively correlated among shrubs. If the coefficient of variation is used to uncouple the intrinsic correlation between these two plant variables, then no significant differences emerge among shrubs in levels of relative variability at either site.