PATTERNS AND PROCESSES IN NOCTURNAL AND CREPUSCULAR POLLINATION SERVICES

Borges, Renee M and Somanathan, Hema and Kelber, Almut (2016) PATTERNS AND PROCESSES IN NOCTURNAL AND CREPUSCULAR POLLINATION SERVICES. In: QUARTERLY REVIEW OF BIOLOGY, 91 (4). pp. 389-418.

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Abstract

Night, dawn, and dusk have abiotic features that differ from the day. Illumination, wind speeds, turbulence, and temperatures are lower while humidity may be higher at night. Nocturnal pollination occurred in 30% of angiosperm families across 68% of orders, 97% of families with C-3, two-thirds of families with crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM), and 71% dicot families with C-4 photosynthesis. Despite its widespread occurence, nocturnal pollination occurs in more families with xerophytic adaptations than helophytes or mesophytes, suggesting that nocturnal flowering is primarily an adaptation to water stress since flowering is a water-intensive process. We propose the arid or water stress hypothesis for nocturnal flowering suggesting that plants facing water stress in a habitat (e.g., deserts) or a habitat stratum (e.g., upper canopy for epiphytes) gain a selective advantage by nocturnal flowering by reducing water loss through evapotranspiration, leading to larger flowers that provide more nectar or other resources, to support pollinators with higher rewards. Contrary to the wide taxonomic occurrence of nocturnal flowering few animal taxa serve as nocturnal pollinators. We discuss the sensory and physiological abilities that enable pollinator movement, navigation, and detection of flowers within the nocturnal temporal niche and present a unified framework for investigation of nocturnal flowering and pollination.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	QUARTERLY REVIEW OF BIOLOGY
Additional Information:	Copy right for this article belongs to the UNIV CHICAGO PRESS, 1427 E 60TH ST, CHICAGO, IL 60637-2954 USA
Department/Centre:	Division of Biological Sciences > Centre for Ecological Sciences
Date Deposited:	30 Dec 2016 05:57
Last Modified:	30 Dec 2016 05:57
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/55598

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