New Zealand Journal of Botany abstract
*Author for correspondence
B97081Received 5
November 1997; accepted 21 May 1998
Can wind pollination provide a selective benefit to mast seeding in
Chionochloa macra (Poaceae) at Mt Hutt, New Zealand?
PHILLIP A. TISCH
DAVE KELLY*
Plant and Microbial Sciences
University of Canterbury
Private Bag 4800
Christchurch 1, New Zealand
Abstract Mast seeding, which is very pronounced in
Chionochloa (Poaceae) in New Zealand, could provide selective advantages
through reduced seed predation or through more efficient wind pollination. The
importance of wind pollination in favouring masting was tested experimentally
by measuring the pollination success of
Chionochloa macra individuals in
10 m x 10 m plots subject to a range of experimentally altered
flowering densities within a single season. Very low local flowering densities
produced a moderate but non-significant increase in the proportion of unfilled
seeds (assumed to represent unsuccessful pollination). This result is
consistent with the conclusions from between-year observational studies on
Chionochloa pallens that wind pollination makes only a small
contribution to any present selective benefit of masting in
Chionochloa.
However, masting may provide larger benefits from higher seed quality (reduced
inbreeding depression) than from seed quantity.
Keywords Mast seeding; mass flowering; wind pollination;
inbreeding depression; predator satiation; economies of scale;
Chionochloa; Poaceae
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