(Silene Spaldingii) in the Zumwalt Prairie of Northeastern Oregon Author(S): Carmen Tubbesing , Christopher Strohm , Sandra J
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Insect Visitors and Pollination Ecology of Spalding's Catchfly (Silene spaldingii) in the Zumwalt Prairie of Northeastern Oregon Author(s): Carmen Tubbesing , Christopher Strohm , Sandra J. DeBano , Natalie Gonzalez , Chiho Kimoto and Robert V. Taylor Source: Natural Areas Journal, 34(2):200-211. 2014. Published By: Natural Areas Association DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3375/043.034.0209 URL: http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.3375/043.034.0209 BioOne (www.bioone.org) is a nonprofit, online aggregation of core research in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences. BioOne provides a sustainable online platform for over 170 journals and books published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses. Your use of this PDF, the BioOne Web site, and all posted and associated content indicates your acceptance of BioOne’s Terms of Use, available at www.bioone.org/page/terms_of_use. Usage of BioOne content is strictly limited to personal, educational, and non-commercial use. Commercial inquiries or rights and permissions requests should be directed to the individual publisher as copyright holder. BioOne sees sustainable scholarly publishing as an inherently collaborative enterprise connecting authors, nonprofit publishers, academic institutions, research libraries, and research funders in the common goal of maximizing access to critical research. R E S E A R C H A R T I C L E ABSTRACT: Silene spaldingii S. Watson (Spalding’s catchfly) is a threatened wildflower that relies on insect-mediated pollination. However, its pollination ecology is not well understood, particularly in the Zumwalt Prairie of northeastern Oregon, which contains the largest known S. spaldingii population. Our objectives were to: (1) describe the principal insect visitors to S. spaldingii in the Zumwalt Prairie, (2) quantify the available pool of pollinators in the area, and (3) determine whether the visitation rate to individual plants is associated with the density of S. spaldingii at the patch scale, as predicted by the • resource concentration hypothesis, and/or by the density and composition of non-S. spaldingii bloom- ing plants, as predicted by the facilitation and competition hypotheses. We recorded insect visits to S. spaldingii during peak bloom at 30 patches and characterized the local bee community using blue vane traps. We quantified the patch-scale density of S. spaldingii and the composition and abundance of other blooming species at each patch. Two bumble bee species comprised all observed visits, although they Insect Visitors and constituted only 20% of the total bees sampled on the prairie. Bumble bees showed a high degree of host fidelity even when other blooming plants were present. Per capita visitation rates increased with catchfly density and blooming plant abundance at the patch scale, supporting the resource concentration Pollination Ecology and facilitation hypotheses. Silene spaldingii in the Zumwalt Prairie appears to rely on a narrow pool of pollinators that may preferentially visit it over other blooming plants, and more dense patches of S. of Spalding’s spaldingii may increase pollination efficiency. Index terms: bumble bees, native bees, pollinators, Silene spaldingii, Spalding’s catchfly, Zumwalt Catchfly (Silene Prairie Preserve spaldingii) in the INTRODUCTION Zumwalt Prairie • Native plants in the Pacific Northwest face a variety of threats related to habitat of Northeastern destruction (e.g., agricultural/urban/sub- 2 Biology Department urban conversion) and degradation (e.g., Oregon Mercyhurst College non-native plant invasions, recreational Erie, PA 16546 activities, improper livestock grazing practices) (Parish et al. 1996; Parks et al. 2005). In Oregon alone, 60 plant species 3Department of Fisheries and Wildlife are listed as threatened or endangered by Oregon State University 1 the state and federal governments (ODA Carmen Tubbesing Hermiston Agricultural Research and 2011). Anthropogenic disturbances not Extension Center only directly impact plants, but can also 1Biology Department Hermiston, OR 97838 affect pollinators on which many flowering Brown University plants depend (Kearns et al. 1998; Aguilar Providence, RI 02912 et al. 2006; Winfree et al. 2009). The risk 4Biology Department of pollination failure is highest in systems Texas State University where plants are pollinated by relatively Christopher Strohm2 San Marcos, TX 78666 few species (Wilcock and Neiland 2002), 3,7 Sandra J. DeBano especially those that require specialized 4 pollinators (e.g., Steiner and Whitehead Natalie Gonzalez 5Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Chiho Kimoto5 Oregon State University 1996). Therefore, an important step for the protection of threatened plant species that 6 Corvallis, OR 97331 Robert V. Taylor rely on pollinators is identifying significant pollinators and understanding factors that 6The Nature Conservancy influence plant-pollinator relationships, including the spatial distribution and den- 7 Corresponding author: sandy.debano@ Enterprise, OR 97828 oregonstate.edu: 541-567-6337 Ext. 116 sity of floral resources (Kearns et al. 1998; Kremen et al. 2007). In this study, we focused on one such • threatened plant species, Spalding’s Natural Areas Journal 34:200–211 catchfly (Silene spaldingii S. Watson: Caryophyllaceae), a perennial forb na- 200 Natural Areas Journal Volume 34 (2), 2014 tive to the Pacific Northwest Bunchgrass Wardell et al. 1998; Kearns et al. 1998). may act as an attractant for pollinators. Prairie, one of the most threatened and Generalist pollinators may be more likely understudied grasslands in North America Additionally, we know little about how to visit S. spaldingii where it coexists (Tisdale 1982). Historically, this unique spatial variability in floral resources af- with other species that bloom at the same grassland type covered over 8 million fects pollinator visitation of S. spaldingii. time. Alternatively, nearby blooming forbs hectares, but over 90% of it has been con- Plant-pollinator relationships are highly could compete with S. spaldingii, attract- verted to agriculture (Tisdale 1982). This contextual and depend on a number of ing pollinators that would otherwise visit habitat loss has limited S. spaldingii to variables, including the distribution of the S. spaldingii. According to the competi- small, fragmented populations throughout target plant species as well as the identity tion hypothesis (Pleasants 1980; Rathcke its original range in Washington, Oregon, and abundance of proximate plant species 1983; Mitchell et al. 2009), competition Idaho, and Montana. In 2001, the species with overlapping flowering phenologies for pollinators among plants has resulted was listed as “threatened” by the United (Kunin 1997; Ghazoul 2005; Kremen et in plant species evolving spatially and/or States Fish and Wildlife Service (U.S. Fish al. 2007). For S. spaldingii, these factors temporally distinct blooming periods. This and Wildlife Service 2007). have not been studied. hypothesis leads to the prediction that S. spaldingii would have lower pollinator The importance of insect pollination in S. Even in areas with relatively large popu- visitation rates in patches with higher spaldingii reproduction is well established. lations (> 50,000 individuals), such as at densities of heterospecific plants. In fact, This perennial forb is a long-lived, sexually The Nature Conservancy’s Zumwalt Prairie Lesica and Heidel (1996) suggested that reproducing plant with a low reproductive Preserve in northeastern Oregon (U.S. Fish non-native plants may compete with S. rate. Although it can produce seed through and Wildlife Service 2007), the local den- spaldingii for pollinators. geitonogamous self-pollination, fecundity sity of flowering S. spaldingii plants can (i.e., production of viable fruits and seeds) vary widely (e.g., 0.01 to 0.3 individuals The objectives of this study were to: (1) is much greater when insects move pollen m-2 in 2006 – 2008, R.V. Taylor et al. describe the principal insect visitors to the from one plant to another (Lesica 1993). unpubl. data). The resource concentra- threatened plant S. spaldingii within the Lesica (1993) found an overall reduction tion hypothesis (Root 1973) suggests that Zumwalt Prairie Preserve, (2) quantify the in S. spaldingii fitness of more than 95% herbivores are more likely to find and use available pool of pollinators in the area, in the absence of insect pollinators due dense concentrations of host plants. This and (3) determine whether the frequency to decreases in the proportion of fruits work has been extended to pollinators, with which a S. spaldingii plant is visited maturing, the number of seeds per fruit, often in the context of Allee effects in is associated with the patch-level density of rates of germination, and seedling growth plant populations, where low densities S. spaldingii, or the density and composi- and survival. Subsequently, Lesica and can reduce reproductive rates because of tion of non-S. spaldingii blooming forbs Heidel (1996) found that the rate of fruit decreased per capita visitation rates by pol- and shrubs. abortion was negatively correlated with linators (Platt et al. 1974; Silander 1978; METHODS the rate of insect visitation. Thus, there is Thomson 1981; Feinsinger et al. 1986; ample evidence that insect-mediated cross- Sih and Baltus 1987; Klinkhamer et al. pollination is critical to maintaining viable 1989; Kunin 1997; Groom 1998). If this Species Description populations of this species. phenomenon