Authors: Anna Jakobsson Benigno Padrón
Publish Date: 2013/09/06
Volume: 174, Issue: 1, Pages: 217-226
Abstract
Invasive plants may compete with native species for abiotic factors as light space and nutrients and have also been shown to affect native pollination interactions Studies have mainly focused on how invasive plants affect pollinator behaviour ie attraction of pollinators to or away from native flowers However when an invasive plant provides resources utilized by native pollinators this could increase pollinator population sizes and thereby pollination success in natives Effects mediated through changes in pollinator population sizes have been largely ignored in previous studies and the dominance of negative interactions suggested by metaanalyses may therefore be biased We investigated the impact of the invasive Lupinus polyphyllus on pollination in the native Lotus corniculatus using a study design comparing invaded and uninvaded sites before and after the flowering period of the invasive We monitored wild bee abundance in transects and visit rate and seed production of potted Lotus plants Bumblebee abundance increased 39 times in invaded sites during the study period whereas it was unaltered in uninvaded sites Total visit rate per Lotus plant increased 21 times in invaded sites and decreased 44 times in uninvaded sites No corresponding change in seed production of Lotus was found The increase in visit rate to Lotus was driven by an increase in solitary bee visitation whereas mainly bumblebees were observed to visit the invasive Lupinus The mechanism by which the invasive increases pollinator visit rates to Lotus could be increased availability of other flower resources for solitary bees when bumblebees forage on LupinusWe are grateful for many constructive comments on the text from professor J Ågren and two anonymous reviewers We also thank P Börjesson for statistical advice The study was financed by grants to A Jakobsson from the foundation Oscar and Lilli Lamms Minne and the Swedish Research Council for Environment Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning The experiments comply with the current laws of Sweden in which the experiments were performed
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