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Floral Visitors and Florivory in Tacinga inamoena (Cactaceae) in the Ex Situ Collection of the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden

by Diego Rafael Gonzaga, Ricardo Maximo Tortorelli, Thaís Moreira Hidalgo de Almeida and Ariane Luna Peixoto

J. Zool. Bot. Gard. 2025, 6(1), 6; https://doi.org/10.3390/jzbg6010006 - 22 Jan 2025

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Abstract

Tacinga inamoena (K. Schum.) N.P. Taylor & Stuppy (Cactaceae, Opuntioideae) is a native Brazilian species found in the Caatinga phytogeographic domain. Although its flowers are adapted for bird pollination (ornithophily), few birds visit these plants in the ex situ collection at the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden. Despite this, fruit production occurs, prompting an investigation into the floral visitors and other animals interacting with T. inamoena flowers. This study aimed to identify floral visitors and quantify florivory damage to flowers in the Cacti and Succulents thematic collection. During the study, 79 flowers were monitored, along with their floral visitors and 26 instances of florivory, totaling 110 observation hours during the anthesis period. Despite recording only five hummingbird visits, a high fruit set was observed, with 72 fruits formed. Results indicated that bees of the genus Trigona sp. were the main floral visitors. Florivory damage, primarily caused by lizards of the species Tropidurus torquatus (Wied-Neuwied, 1820), did not negatively impact fruit formation in this cactus species under cultivation. To fully understand the reproductive success of this species, further studies are needed to assess the viability of seeds formed under these conditions, as the species may be self-compatible and autogamous. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Living Collection of Botanical Gardens, as a Tool for Dissemination, Knowledge and Biodiversity Conservation Studies)

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12 pages, 2110 KB

Open AccessArticle

Assessing the Role of Lizards as Potential Pollinators of an Insular Plant Community and Its Intraspecific Variation

by Víctor Romero-Egea, Cristina Robles, Anna Traveset, Laura Del Rio and Sandra Hervías-Parejo

Animals 2023, 13(6), 1122; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13061122 - 22 Mar 2023

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 4017

Abstract

The role of lizards as potential pollinators on islands has been documented for either one or a few plants in different parts of the world, but it has never been assessed for an entire plant community. Here, we quantified interaction rate by lizards and evaluated intraspecific differences in the use of flowers on Cabrera Gran (Cabrera archipelago, Balearic Islands) by means of visual observations, automated cameras and the analysis of pollen grain samples. Overall, we recorded interactions of the Balearic wall lizard (Podarcis lilfordi) with flowers of 44 plant species, 72.7% of which were unknown to date. Although florivory occurs in some of these species (35%), the majority of visits were legitimate (65%); in addition, we found intraspecific differences in the interactions related to the sex and age of lizards. Our findings support the role of Balearic wall lizards as potential pollinators across the entire plant community, and their contribution to particular plant species, for instance the endangered Cistus heterophyllus carthaginensis. This study also documents the first record of another sympatric lizard (Tarentola mauritanica) visiting flowers and contributes to the few existing records of flower interactions involving geckos in the Paleartic ecozone. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Lizard Evolutionary Ecology in Islands)

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22 pages, 3673 KB

Open AccessArticle

Long-Term Seed Dispersal within an Asymmetric Lizard-Plant Interaction

by Ana Pérez-Cembranos and Valentín Pérez-Mellado

Animals 2023, 13(6), 973; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13060973 - 8 Mar 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3008

Abstract

During the last 24 years, the mutualistic interaction between the dead horse arum, Helicodiceros muscivorus, and the Balearic lizard, Podarcis lilfordi, was studied on Aire Island (Balearic Islands, Spain). From a small population of a hundred plants, the dead horse arum expanded extraordinarily throughout the island, reaching the highest known densities of the species and occupying areas of the island where it was not previously present. The current abundance of plants is a direct effect of the frugivorous activity of the Balearic lizard, which is the main, if not the only, effective seed disperser of the plant on Aire Island. However, abiotic factors predominated over biotic factors in driving abundance of plants. Over the years, plant densities varied significantly depending on the aridity of the island, with higher densities recorded in drier years. Lizards’ frugivorous activity and dispersal intensity was inversely correlated with annual rainfall. We found higher dispersal intensity in years with lower rainfall. We propose that the years of lower rainfall are those in which there is a lower prey availability. In such years, lizards compensate the shortage of other trophic resources with a more intense consumption of dead horse arum fruits. The mutualistic interaction is therefore asymmetric, since there is a greater influence of the frugivorous activity of the lizards on the plants than of the plants on lizards. It is, in short, a system chronically out of balance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Lizard Evolutionary Ecology in Islands)

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