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The ecology of rodent pollination in Liparia parva (Fabaceae)
The evolution of non-flying mammal pollination has given rise to a broad suite of adaptive plant traits including dull coloured and geoflorous flowers, copious sucrose rich nectar, nocturnal anthesis and nectar production and a musky odour. The Fynbos endemic, Liparia parva (Fabaceae) has been recog...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Department of Biological Sciences
2017
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| _version_ | 1867613607394541568 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Letten, Andrew |
| author2 | Midgley, Jeremy J |
| author_browse | Letten, Andrew Midgley, Jeremy J |
| author_facet | Midgley, Jeremy J Letten, Andrew |
| author_sort | Letten, Andrew |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | The evolution of non-flying mammal pollination has given rise to a broad suite of adaptive plant traits including dull coloured and geoflorous flowers, copious sucrose rich nectar, nocturnal anthesis and nectar production and a musky odour. The Fynbos endemic, Liparia parva (Fabaceae) has been recognised to exhibit several of these traits. Based on this observation, field studies were carried out on the Cape Peninsula, South Africa, to investigate the prediction that L. parva is rodent pollinated. Several lines of evidence indicate that flowers of L. parva are visited by rodents. These include; the presence of Liparia pollen in the faeces of live trapped rodents; observations of captive rodents selectively foraging at flowers of L. parva; floral debris underneath L. parva plants; and video footage captured of a rodent visiting L. parva flowers in the field. However, a strong plant-pollinator relationship was apparent only in the Cape spiny mouse, Acomys subspinosis. Captive Acomys foraged non-destructively at flowers of L. parva, becoming visibly dusted with pollen. The exclusion of rodents from flowers resulted in a significant reduction in seedpod set, indicating rodents do contribute to pollination success in L. parva. Additional evidence that L. parva is adapted to pollination by rodents includes nocturnal floral anthesis and large amounts of total nectar in inflorescences. The findings of this study provide substantial evidence for rodent pollination in L. parva and thus represent the first report of rodent pollination in a legume. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/26508 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:38:50.343Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publishDateRange | 2017 |
| publishDateSort | 2017 |
| publisher | Department of Biological Sciences |
| publisherStr | Department of Biological Sciences |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/26508 The ecology of rodent pollination in Liparia parva (Fabaceae) Letten, Andrew Midgley, Jeremy J Botany Plant Ecology The evolution of non-flying mammal pollination has given rise to a broad suite of adaptive plant traits including dull coloured and geoflorous flowers, copious sucrose rich nectar, nocturnal anthesis and nectar production and a musky odour. The Fynbos endemic, Liparia parva (Fabaceae) has been recognised to exhibit several of these traits. Based on this observation, field studies were carried out on the Cape Peninsula, South Africa, to investigate the prediction that L. parva is rodent pollinated. Several lines of evidence indicate that flowers of L. parva are visited by rodents. These include; the presence of Liparia pollen in the faeces of live trapped rodents; observations of captive rodents selectively foraging at flowers of L. parva; floral debris underneath L. parva plants; and video footage captured of a rodent visiting L. parva flowers in the field. However, a strong plant-pollinator relationship was apparent only in the Cape spiny mouse, Acomys subspinosis. Captive Acomys foraged non-destructively at flowers of L. parva, becoming visibly dusted with pollen. The exclusion of rodents from flowers resulted in a significant reduction in seedpod set, indicating rodents do contribute to pollination success in L. parva. Additional evidence that L. parva is adapted to pollination by rodents includes nocturnal floral anthesis and large amounts of total nectar in inflorescences. The findings of this study provide substantial evidence for rodent pollination in L. parva and thus represent the first report of rodent pollination in a legume. 2017-12-08T08:33:11Z 2017-12-08T08:33:11Z 2005 2017-02-08T13:34:36Z Bachelor Thesis Honours BSc (Hons) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/26508 eng application/pdf Department of Biological Sciences Faculty of Science University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Botany Plant Ecology Letten, Andrew The ecology of rodent pollination in Liparia parva (Fabaceae) |
| thesis_degree_str | Bachelor's / Honours |
| title | The ecology of rodent pollination in Liparia parva (Fabaceae) |
| title_full | The ecology of rodent pollination in Liparia parva (Fabaceae) |
| title_fullStr | The ecology of rodent pollination in Liparia parva (Fabaceae) |
| title_full_unstemmed | The ecology of rodent pollination in Liparia parva (Fabaceae) |
| title_short | The ecology of rodent pollination in Liparia parva (Fabaceae) |
| title_sort | ecology of rodent pollination in liparia parva fabaceae |
| topic | Botany Plant Ecology |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/26508 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT lettenandrew theecologyofrodentpollinationinlipariaparvafabaceae AT lettenandrew ecologyofrodentpollinationinlipariaparvafabaceae |