Low Fruit Set, Pollen Limitation and the Roles of Birds and Insects in Pollination of Native New Zealand Plants.

Type of content
Theses / Dissertations
Publisher's DOI/URI
Thesis discipline
Zoology
Degree name
Master of Science
Publisher
University of Canterbury. Biological Sciences
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Language
Date
2010
Authors
Greenfield, Cassandra Joyce
Abstract

Pollination and fruit set of four species of native New Zealand flowering plant species were examined through two field seasons. Bird exclusion, pollinator exclusion, natural and supplemental pollination treatments were initiated on individuals of Cordyline australis (Cabbage tree), Phormium tenax (Flax), Kunzea ericoides (Kanuka), and Pseudopanax arboreus (Five-finger). The species differed in the self-compatibility as well as in their floral syndrome. No species showed any evidence of pollen limitation, and two species. K. ericoides and P. arboreus set fruit from more than 70% of their flowers. The response of fruit set to treatment in C. australis varied from season to season, with birds appearing important to pollination in the first but not the second field season, while birds were important in pollination across both seasons for P. tenax. K. ericoides was resilient to treatment, setting high fruit set in every treatment, compared to P. arboreus which set high fruit set when pollinators had access, but low when all pollinators were excluded. No trends relating to fruit set or PLI and self-compatibility or floral syndrome were found. That there was no evidence of pollen limitation for any species, despite variation in fruit set from some treatments, indicates that these species are performing well and not at risk of decreased population size due to pollen limitation.

Description
Citation
Keywords
Pollination, Native, Fruit Set, Kanuka, Flax, Cabbage Tree, Five-finger
Ngā upoko tukutuku/Māori subject headings
ANZSRC fields of research
Rights
Copyright Cassandra Joyce Greenfield