Climate influence on plant–pollinator interactions in the keystone species Vaccinium myrtillus
Climate change is altering the world's ecosystems through direct effects of climate warming and precipitation changes but also indirectly through changes in biotic interactions. For instance, climate-driven changes in plant and/or insect communities may alter plant–pollinator interactions, ther...
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2999028 https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8910 |
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ftunivmob:oai:nmbu.brage.unit.no:11250/2999028 2023-05-15T18:40:38+02:00 Climate influence on plant–pollinator interactions in the keystone species Vaccinium myrtillus Olsen, Siri Lie Evju, Marianne Åström, Jens Løkken, Jørn Olav Dahle, Sondre Andresen, Jonas Eide, Nina Elisabeth 2022-05-25T08:29:13Z application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2999028 https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8910 eng eng Norges forskningsråd: 160022 Ecology and Evolution. 2022, 12 (5). urn:issn:2045-7758 https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2999028 https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8910 cristin:2027164 Ecology and Evolution VDP::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480 VDP::Zoology and botany: 480 Journal article Peer reviewed 2022 ftunivmob https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8910 2022-06-22T22:41:10Z Climate change is altering the world's ecosystems through direct effects of climate warming and precipitation changes but also indirectly through changes in biotic interactions. For instance, climate-driven changes in plant and/or insect communities may alter plant–pollinator interactions, thereby influencing plant reproductive success and ultimately population dynamics of insect-pollinated plants. To better understand how the importance of insect pollination for plant fruit set varies with climate, we experimentally excluded pollinators from the partly selfing keystone species Vaccinium myrtillus along elevational gradients in the forest-tundra ecotone in central Norway. The study comprised three mountain areas, seven elevational gradients spanning from the climatically relatively benign birch forest to the colder alpine areas above the tree line, and 180 plots of 1 × 1 m, with experimental treatments allocated randomly to plots within sites. Within the experimental plots, we counted the number of flowers of V. myrtillus and counted and weighed all fruits, as well as seeds for a selection of fruits. Excluding pollinators resulted in lower fruit production, as well as reduced fruit and seed mass of V. myrtillus. In the alpine sites pollinator exclusion resulted in 84% fewer fruits, 50% lower fruit weight, and 50% lower seed weight compared to control conditions. Contrary to our expectations, the negative effect of pollinator exclusion was less pronounced in the forest compared to alpine sites, suggesting that the importance of insect pollination for seed production is lower at low elevations. Our findings indicate that the keystone species V. myrtillus is relatively robust to changes in the pollinator community in a warmer climate, thereby making it less vulnerable to climate-driven changes in plant–pollinator interactions. bilberry, biotic interactions, climate change, elevational gradient, fruit production, seed production publishedVersion Article in Journal/Newspaper Tundra Open archive Norwegian University of Life Sciences: Brage NMBU Norway Ecology and Evolution 12 5 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Open archive Norwegian University of Life Sciences: Brage NMBU |
op_collection_id |
ftunivmob |
language |
English |
topic |
VDP::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480 VDP::Zoology and botany: 480 |
spellingShingle |
VDP::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480 VDP::Zoology and botany: 480 Olsen, Siri Lie Evju, Marianne Åström, Jens Løkken, Jørn Olav Dahle, Sondre Andresen, Jonas Eide, Nina Elisabeth Climate influence on plant–pollinator interactions in the keystone species Vaccinium myrtillus |
topic_facet |
VDP::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480 VDP::Zoology and botany: 480 |
description |
Climate change is altering the world's ecosystems through direct effects of climate warming and precipitation changes but also indirectly through changes in biotic interactions. For instance, climate-driven changes in plant and/or insect communities may alter plant–pollinator interactions, thereby influencing plant reproductive success and ultimately population dynamics of insect-pollinated plants. To better understand how the importance of insect pollination for plant fruit set varies with climate, we experimentally excluded pollinators from the partly selfing keystone species Vaccinium myrtillus along elevational gradients in the forest-tundra ecotone in central Norway. The study comprised three mountain areas, seven elevational gradients spanning from the climatically relatively benign birch forest to the colder alpine areas above the tree line, and 180 plots of 1 × 1 m, with experimental treatments allocated randomly to plots within sites. Within the experimental plots, we counted the number of flowers of V. myrtillus and counted and weighed all fruits, as well as seeds for a selection of fruits. Excluding pollinators resulted in lower fruit production, as well as reduced fruit and seed mass of V. myrtillus. In the alpine sites pollinator exclusion resulted in 84% fewer fruits, 50% lower fruit weight, and 50% lower seed weight compared to control conditions. Contrary to our expectations, the negative effect of pollinator exclusion was less pronounced in the forest compared to alpine sites, suggesting that the importance of insect pollination for seed production is lower at low elevations. Our findings indicate that the keystone species V. myrtillus is relatively robust to changes in the pollinator community in a warmer climate, thereby making it less vulnerable to climate-driven changes in plant–pollinator interactions. bilberry, biotic interactions, climate change, elevational gradient, fruit production, seed production publishedVersion |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Olsen, Siri Lie Evju, Marianne Åström, Jens Løkken, Jørn Olav Dahle, Sondre Andresen, Jonas Eide, Nina Elisabeth |
author_facet |
Olsen, Siri Lie Evju, Marianne Åström, Jens Løkken, Jørn Olav Dahle, Sondre Andresen, Jonas Eide, Nina Elisabeth |
author_sort |
Olsen, Siri Lie |
title |
Climate influence on plant–pollinator interactions in the keystone species Vaccinium myrtillus |
title_short |
Climate influence on plant–pollinator interactions in the keystone species Vaccinium myrtillus |
title_full |
Climate influence on plant–pollinator interactions in the keystone species Vaccinium myrtillus |
title_fullStr |
Climate influence on plant–pollinator interactions in the keystone species Vaccinium myrtillus |
title_full_unstemmed |
Climate influence on plant–pollinator interactions in the keystone species Vaccinium myrtillus |
title_sort |
climate influence on plant–pollinator interactions in the keystone species vaccinium myrtillus |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2999028 https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8910 |
geographic |
Norway |
geographic_facet |
Norway |
genre |
Tundra |
genre_facet |
Tundra |
op_source |
Ecology and Evolution |
op_relation |
Norges forskningsråd: 160022 Ecology and Evolution. 2022, 12 (5). urn:issn:2045-7758 https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2999028 https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8910 cristin:2027164 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8910 |
container_title |
Ecology and Evolution |
container_volume |
12 |
container_issue |
5 |
_version_ |
1766230035307429888 |