Holy Talking Plant! Flower Communicates with Bats

Holy Talking Plant! Flower Communicates with Bats This photo montage shows the Cuban nectar feeding bat Monophyllus beside the vine that scientists discovers attracts bats by producing an "echo beacon" with a special leaf. That sonar-reflecting leaf stands upright above the ring of flowers. The cup-like structures that hold the nectar hang below. Just as some flowers use bright colors to attract insect pollinators, other plants may use sound to lure in nectar-eating bats. One rain-forest vine has a dish-shaped leaf located above a cluster of flowers that appears to help bats find them (and the plant's tasty nectar) by reflecting back the calls the flying mammals send out, new research indicates. While there is other evidence that plants use bats' sonar systems to attract them, this is the first time scientists have shown that a plant can produce an "echo beacon" that cuts through sonic clutter of reflected echoes, and that this signal can cut a bat's search time for food in half, according to the researchers, led by Ralph Simon, a research fellow at the University of Ulm in Germany. The vine, Marcgravia evenia, climbs trees in the rain forests of southeastern Cuba. Its flowers are suspended in a ring, above cuplike structures that hold sugary nectar intended to lure batty pollinators, whose necks and shoulders are powdered with pollen as they drink the nectar. The bats then carry the pollen between vines, fertilizing other flowers with it and helping the vine reproduce. Like a satellite dish, the reflector leaf is concave, and stands in an upright position above the ring of flowers. Bats navigate and search for food by sending out high-frequency calls, and then listening to the echoes that bounce back. And like bats would, the researchers bounced sound off the dish-shaped leaves as well as off regular foliage leaves and then analyzed the echoes that came back. They found that a strong, constant echo could be detected within a roughly 100-degree range around the front of the dish- shaped leaves. Meanwhile, the echo from the foliage leaves was not constant, but varied drastically within 5-degree increments, making it less detectable. What's more, the dish-shaped leaves produced an echo with a distinctive, two-peak signal. In another experiment, the researchers trained nectar-feeding bats to find a small, single feeder (a stand-in for a nectar-filled flower bloom) hidden within fake foliage in the rainforest. The bats then searched for the feeder, which was associated with a replica of a dish-shaped leaf, a foliage leaf or no leaf, as they were timed. The bats took the longest to find the feeder when it had no leaf, though the foliage leaf did not significantly reduce the search time. However, the dish-shaped leaf cut down the bats' search time by roughly 50 percent relative to the feeder by itself. The vine has a great deal to gain by attracting bats, according to Simon. "Bats are very efficient pollinators, and they have large home ranges," Simon said. "[The vine] is a rare species with a patchy distribution pattern. These bats are extremely helpful, because they can exchange pollen between plants that grow far apart." The research team included Marc Hodleried of the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom, and Corinna Koch and Otto von Helversen of the University of Erlangen-Nuremburg in Germany. .

Copy Link

Recommended publications

Rainforest Plant Developed 'Sonar Dish' to Attract Pollinating Bats
Rainforest plant developed 'sonar dish' to attract pollinating bats How plants sound as well as how they look helps them to attract pollinators, a new study has found. Researchers discovered that a rainforest vine, pollinated by bats, has evolved dish-shaped leaves with such conspicuous echoes that nectar-feeding bats can find its flowers twice as fast by echolocation. Flowering inflorescence of Marcgravia evenia. (A) dish-shaped leaf, (B) ring of flowers most of them in the male phase with anthers shedding pollen, (C) cup-like nectaries. How plants sound as well as how they look helps them to attract pollinators, a new study by scientists at the University of Bristol, UK, and the Universities of Erlangen and Ulm, Germany has found. The researchers discovered that a rainforest vine, pollinated by bats, has evolved dish-shaped leaves with such conspicuous echoes that nectar-feeding bats can find its flowers twice as fast by echolocation. The study is published in Science. While it is well known that the bright colours of flowers serve to attract visually-guided pollinators such as bees and birds, little research has been done to see whether plants which rely on echolocating bats for pollination and seed dispersal have evolved analogous echo-acoustic signals. The Cuban rainforest vine Marcgravia evenia has developed a distinctively shaped concave leaf next to its flowers which, the researchers noticed, is reminiscent of a dish reflector. By analyzing the leaf's acoustic reflection properties, they found that it acts as an ideal echo beacon, sending back strong, multidirectional echoes with an easily recognizable, and unvarying acoustic signature -- perfect for making the flower obvious to echolocating bats.
[Show full text]
Sensory and Cognitive Constraints and Opportunities in Bats
Sensory and Cognitive Constraints and Opportunities in Bats by Jeneni Thiagavel A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of Toronto © Copyright by Jeneni Thiagavel, 2019 i Sensory and Cognitive Constraints and Opportunities in Bats Doctor of Philosophy, 2019 Jeneni Thiagavel, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto Here I report on three comparative studies and one review chapter addressing the relationships between sensory reliance, neuroanatomy, skull morphology and body size, as they relate to diet and foraging in bats. In chapter two, I use morphological and echolocation data to test whether (i) mass-signal frequency allometry or (ii) emitter-limited (maximum gape) signal directionality better explain the negative relationship between size and peak frequency in bats. The results suggest that body mass and forearm length were important predictors of open space echolocation call peak frequency in ways that (i) reflect species- specific size differences, and (ii) suggest the influence of preferred foraging habitat. In chapter three, I test the predictions that the ancestral bat had (i) an auditory brain design capable of supporting early laryngeal echolocation, but (ii) eyes of insufficient absolute size to allow insect tracking at night. The results suggest that bats’ common ancestor had eyes too small to allow for successful aerial hawking of flying insects at night, but an auditory brain design sufficient to afford echolocation. Further, we find that those with less sophisticated biosonar have relatively larger eyes than do sophisticated echolocators. ii In chapter four, I continue to explore apparent trade-offs between echolocation call design and vision in predatory bats.
[Show full text]
Revista Nicaraguense De Biodiversidad
ISSN 2413-337X REVISTA NICARAGUENSE DE BIODIVERSIDAD N° 18. ______________________________ Agosto 2017 Nouvelles Idées et Nouvelles Recherches. Nouveaux livres. Pierre Jolivet PUBLICACIÓN DEL MUSEO ENTOMOLÓGICO ASOCIACIÓN NICARAGÜENSE DE ENTOMOLOGÍA LEÓN - - - NICARAGUA REVISTA NICARAGUENSE DE BIODIVERSIDAD. No.18. 2017. La Revista Nicaragüense de Biodiversidad (ISSN 2413-337X) es una publicación que pretende apoyar a la divulgación de los trabajos realizados en Nicaragua en este tema. Todos los artículos que en ella se publican son sometidos a un sistema de doble arbitraje por especialistas en el tema. The Revista Nicaragüense de Biodiversidad (ISSN 2413-337X) is a journal created to help a better divulgation of the research in this field in Nicaragua. Two independent specialists referee all published papers. Consejo Editorial Jean Michel Maes Editor Museo Entomológico Nicaragua Milton Salazar Eric P. van den Berghe Herpetonica, Nicaragua ZAMORANO, Honduras Editor para Herpetología. Editor para Peces. Liliana Chavarria Arnulfo Medina ALAS, El Jaguar Nicaragua Editor para Aves. Editor para Mamíferos. Oliver Komar Estela Yamileth Aguilar ZAMORANO, Honduras Alvarez Editor para Ecología. ZAMORANO, Honduras Editor para Biotecnología. Indiana Coronado Missouri Botanical Garden/ Herbario HULE-UNAN León Editor para Botánica. _______________ Portada: Entimus imperialis (Forster) Brasil. (Curculionidae). (Foto: Ettore Balocchi). 2 REVISTA NICARAGUENSE DE BIODIVERSIDAD. No.18. 2017. Nouvelles Idées et Nouvelles Recherches. Pierre Jolivet* Resumen. Nada realmente nuevo en la web. Algunos detalles sobre las manipulaciones de sus huéspedes por parte de parásitos, el descubrimiento de una cucaracha saltarina en Sudáfrica, la influencia de los trips sobre la fecundación de las plantas del pasado, más detalles sobre los Heliconius, estas esplendidas mariposas americanas, nuevas discusiones sobre la coevolución, aun no borradas de los tratados evolucionistas.
[Show full text]
Plant Attractants: Integrating Insights from Pollination and Seed Dispersal Ecology
Evol Ecol DOI 10.1007/s10682-016-9870-3 Plant attractants: integrating insights from pollination and seed dispersal ecology 1 2 2 Kim Valenta • Omer Nevo • Carlos Martel • Colin A. Chapman1,3,4 Received: 29 February 2016 / Accepted: 22 October 2016 Ó Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 Abstract Reproduction in many angiosperms depends on attracting animals that provide pollination and seed dispersal services. Flowers and fleshy fruits present various features that can attract animal mutualists through visual, olfactory, acoustic, and tactile cues and signals, and some of these traits may result from selection exerted by pollinators and seed dispersers. Plant attractants can provide information regarding the presence, location, and quality of the reward. However, because of the different functional outcomes of pollination and seed dispersal, pollination systems are thought to be more highly specialized than seed dispersal systems. Despite these interesting parallels and contrasts, theoretical and empirical insights in the sensory ecology of pollination and seed dispersal are rarely considered together. Here, we review extant theory and data of sensory attractants from both pollination and seed dispersal systems. We discuss theoretical and empirical simi- larities and differences between pollination and seed dispersal and offer suggestions for ways in which insights from each field may benefit the other in future. Keywords Animal–plant interactions Á Communication Á Coevolution Á Foraging ecology Á Mutualism Á Sensory ecology & Kim Valenta [email protected] 1 Department of Anthropology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada 2 Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Helmholtzstr. 10-1, 89081 Ulm, Germany 3 McGill School of Environment, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada 4 Wildlife Conservation Society, Bronx, NY, USA 123 Evol Ecol Introduction For many plant species, particularly angiosperms, reproduction requires animals as polli- nators, seed dispersers, or both (Schaefer et al.
[Show full text]
Bioinspired Sonar Reflectors As Guiding Beacons for Autonomous Navigation
Bioinspired sonar reflectors as guiding beacons for autonomous navigation Ralph Simona,1, Stefan Rupitschb, Markus Baumannb, Huan Wub, Herbert Peremansc, and Jan Steckeld,e aDepartment of Ecological Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands; bChair of Sensor Technology, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, 91052 Erlangen, Germany; cDepartment of Engineering Management, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Antwerp, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium; dCoSys-Lab, Faculty of Applied Engineering, University of Antwerp, B-2020 Antwerpen; and eFlanders Make VZW, Non-Profit Strategic Research Institute, 3920 Lommel, Belgium Edited by John A. Rogers, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, and approved December 6, 2019 (received for review June 8, 2019) Sonar sensors are universally applied in autonomous vehicles such difference between the acoustic impedances of air and solid ma- as robots and driverless cars as they are inexpensive, energy- terial precludes the use of such reflector designs as all sound waves efficient, and provide accurate range measurements; however, they would be reflected by the first layer. However, it turns out nature have some limitations. Their measurements can lead to ambiguous found a simple yet efficient solution to the problem of airborne estimates and echo clutter can hamper target detection. In nature, sonar landmarks. In tropical South and Central America, some echolocating bats experience similar problems when searching for 400 plant species chose a quite rare pollination system: They open food, especially if their food source is close to vegetation, as is the and produce nectar at night and lure glossophagine bats for pol- case for gleaning bats and nectar-feeding bats. However, nature has lination services.
[Show full text]
A New Species of Marcgravia (Marcgraviaceae) from Amazonia with Some Notes on the Galeatae Group Including a Key
Willdenowia 30 – 2000 369 STEFAN DRESSLER A new species of Marcgravia (Marcgraviaceae) from Amazonia with some notes on the Galeatae group including a key Abstract Dressler, S.: A new species of Marcgravia (Marcgraviaceae) from Amazonia with some notes on the Galeatae group including a key. – Willdenowia 30: 369-374. 2000. – ISSN 0511-9618. Marcgravia zonopunctata is described as a species new to science and illustrated. The species is remarkable for its hypophyllous glands arranged in bands on the lower leaf surface (not known before from Marcgravia), for its peculiar shape of the nectary bracts and for its inflorescences appearing on short-shoots (as far known). This is the first species of an unranked, obviously natural group within Marcgravia (Galeatae group) known to range in Amazonia and at low altitudes. Some features of this Galeatae group are discussed here (e.g. pollination, distribution, leaf anatomy) and a key to its species is given. During revisionary work on the genus Marcgravia a new species from the vicinity of Rio Vaupés in Amazonian Brazil and Colombia was detected. All gatherings known to me were collected in the late 1940s. This new species clearly belongs to a group which has its centre of diversity on the Greater Antilles and was named Marcgravia [unranked] Galeatae Wittm. (according to ICBN Art. 35.3 (Greuter & al. 2000) the delimitation proposed by Wittmack (1878) consists of valid but, since he gave no indication of the ranks involved, inoperative supraspecific names). This group is characterised by having a relatively long rachis thus still exposing the racemose nature of its inflo- rescences as opposed to the nearly umbelliformly contracted inflorescences in the remainder of the genus.
[Show full text]
CALL of the BLOOM 133 For111 Feeds Ft111ctio11
Bloom Some tropical }lowers rejlect sound so 11ectar-seeki11g {)(lts ca11 }ind them more easily. This flower's sh ape and exposed position cate r to a bat's ears. PLANT CHES CUJETE BAT GLOsso�fi::tA COMMISSAR/!)/ WfRAUfl/A GLADIOLIFLORA RANGE ALL MAP DATA TROPICOS Merlin Tuttle filleted this flower to document the bat's tongue siphoning nectar as the flower's anthers stamp its forehead with pollen. He photographed wild bats in temporary cages. rLANT WfRAUHIJl.GIADIOLIFLORA [lAT LONCl-fOPlffUA /;:/OBUS1A \ . .·' .. •," .. �. By Susan McGrath Photographs by Merlin D. Tuttle Nature's inventiveness knows no bounds. Consider the case of the nectar-drinking bat and Theincoming informationis processed fastand the night-flowering vine whose lives intertwine in continually, allowing bats to adjust their course the lowland tropical forests of Central America. in mid-flight as they streak through the air after Glossophaga commissarisi, a tiny, winged a mosquito or race among flowering trees. mammal with a body no bigger than your Most bats feed on insects, and they oftenuse thumb, flits among the flowers of Mucuna holto powerful, long-range calls, pumped out with nii, lapping nectar, much as hummingbirds and every upstroke of their wings. Nectar bats send bumblebees do. In exchange it pollinates the gentle but very sophisticated calls, which scien plant. In daylight flowers can flaunt their wares tists referto as frequencymodulated. Thesecalls with bright colors such as scarlet and fuchsia, trade distance fordetail. Most effectivewithin but at night, when even the brightest hues pale 12 feet, they reflectback pictures that convey to a moonlit silver, Mucuna flowers resort to precise information abouta target's size, shape, sound to catch the ear of nectar bats.
[Show full text]
Bat Evolution, Ecology, and Conservation Bat Evolution, Ecology, and Conservation
Rick A. Adams · Scott C. Pedersen Editors Bat Evolution, Ecology, and Conservation Bat Evolution, Ecology, and Conservation Rick A. Adams • Scott C. Pedersen Editors Bat Evolution, Ecology, and Conservation Editors Rick A. Adams Scott C. Pedersen School of Biological Sciences Department of Biology and Microbiology University of Northern Colorado South Dakota State University Greeley , CO , USA Brookings , SD , USA ISBN 978-1-4614-7396-1 ISBN 978-1-4614-7397-8 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-7397-8 Springer New York Heidelberg Dordrecht London Library of Congress Control Number: 2013943698 © Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifi cally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfi lms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. Exempted from this legal reservation are brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis or material supplied specifi cally for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the Copyright Law of the Publisher’s location, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Permissions for use may be obtained through RightsLink at the Copyright Clearance Center. Violations are liable to prosecution under the respective Copyright Law.
[Show full text]
Plant Lures Bats with Echoing Leaf
Plant lures bats with echoing leaf Scientists discover a Cuban rainforest vine with leaves shaped to attract nectar-feeding bats Flowers use bright colours and striking patterns to attract pollinators that are guided by sight, such as bees and hummingbirds. So it makes sense that plant species pollinated by bats, which are guided by sound, should entice them in a similar way. Now scientists from the UK and Germany have proved the point for the first time. They have discovered a Cuban rainforest vine – Marcgravia evenia – that grows a dish-shaped leaf just above each flower, to send back conspicuous echoes to nectar-feeding bats. As a result, the bats find its flowers twice as fast by echolocation as they would otherwise. By analysing the leaf’s acoustic reflection properties, the researchers found that it acts as an ideal beacon, sending back strong, multidirectional echoes with an easily recognisable acoustic signature – perfect for making the flower obvious to echolocating bats. The scientists then trained nectar-feedingGlossophaga soricina bats to search for a single small feeder hidden within an artificial foliage background, varying the feeder’s position and measuring the time the bats took to find it. The feeder was presented on its own, or with a replica of either an ordinary foliage leaf or the distinctive dish-shaped leaf. Search times were longest for all bats when the feeder was presented on its own, and were very slightly shorter when a foliage leaf was added. However, a dish-shaped leaf placed above the feeder always reduced the bats’ search times – by around 50 per cent.
[Show full text]
Copyrighted Material
Index α-amy gene family, 119 acid rain, 228–32 allergens, 201, 206 α-ketoglutarate, 175 acidosis, 223 Allium cepa see onion ABA see abscisic acid actinomorphic flowers, 194, 302 allantoic acid, 54 ABA-binding/receptor proteins, 80–81 action potential, 161–2 allantoin, 54 ABC model, 195 action spectrum (pl. spectra), 87, 90–91, 170, allelopathy, 260, 302 ABCE model, 195–6, 214 192, 302 Alopecurus myosuroides see black grass ABI genes/ABI proteins, 106, 115 actin, 15, 35 alpine environment, 218, 237 Abies lasiocarpa see subalpine fir actin filament/microfilament, 15, 34–6, 212 alternation of generations, 5, 11–13, 94 abscisic acid, 26, 75, 79–81, 139, 163, 204 active transport (across membranes), 134–6, alternative intron splice sites, 70 antagonizes cytokinins, 79 139 alternative oxidase, 47 antagonizes GA, 79, 106, 115–16, 119 acyl carrier protein/ACP, 48–9 alternative poly-adenylation sites, 70 in control of cell division, 41 acyl transferase, 49 alternative transcription start sites, 70 inhibition of flowering, 80 adaptation, 124, 128–9, 162, 181–2, 187, 214, alternative translation start sites, 71 inhibition of germination, 116 235–59, 270–271 aluminium interaction with ethylene, 109 concept, 216, 235 hyperaccumulators, 255 involvement in abscission, 187 aequorin, 85 tolerance, 252–5 involvement in stomatal closure, 224 aeration, 130, 222 toxicity, 133, 230–232, 254 involvement in stress responses, 224–6, 238 aerenchyma, 130, 240–243, 302 Alzheimer’s disease, 255 modes of action/signalling pathways, 80, 225 Aesculus hippocastanum see horse
[Show full text]
Bats Are Acoustically Attracted to Mutualistic Carnivorous Plants
Report Bats Are Acoustically Attracted to Mutualistic Carnivorous Plants Graphical Abstract Authors Michael G. Scho¨ ner, Caroline R. Scho¨ ner, Ralph Simon, ..., Se´ bastien J. Puechmaille, Liaw Lin Ji, Gerald Kerth Correspondence [email protected] In Brief To maintain mutualisms, plants specifically appeal to their animal partners’ perception. Scho¨ ner et al. now show that Paleotropical carnivorous plants have reflective structures that are acoustically attractive for mutualistic bats. This phenomenon can similarly be found in a few Neotropical bat-pollinated flowers. Highlights d A carnivorous plant features an ultrasound reflector attractive for mutualistic bats d This reflector enables the bats to easily find and identify the plant’s pitchers d The bats fertilize these Paleotropical plants with feces in exchange for roosts d Such reflectors were convergently acquired in Neotropical bat-pollinated plants Scho¨ ner et al., 2015, Current Biology 25, 1–6 July 20, 2015 ª2015 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2015.05.054 Please cite this article in press as: Scho¨ ner et al., Bats Are Acoustically Attracted to Mutualistic Carnivorous Plants, Current Biology (2015), http:// dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2015.05.054 Current Biology Report Bats Are Acoustically Attracted to Mutualistic Carnivorous Plants Michael G. Scho¨ ner,1,4,* Caroline R. Scho¨ ner,1,4 Ralph Simon,2,4 T. Ulmar Grafe,3 Se´ bastien J. Puechmaille,1 Liaw Lin Ji,3 and Gerald Kerth1 1Zoological Institute and Museum, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universita¨
[Show full text]
Bearing Fruit: Plant Bioacoustics Is Blossoming
Bearing Fruit: Plant Bioacoustics is Blossoming Aaron M. Thode There is growing interest in how plants transmit, reflect, generate, and perhaps even Address: respond to sound. Marine Physical Laboratory Scripps Institution of Oceanography Plants comprise about 80% of the Earth’s biomass and capture over 100 billion tons University of California, San Diego of carbon per year in additional biomass. They form the foundation of the animal 9500 Gilman Drive kingdom’s food supply; transform our atmosphere; loom over our art, agriculture, La Jolla, California 92093 and architecture; and inspire work in many scientific disciplines, from genomics to USA biochemistry to ecology. Yet the role of sound in plant studies has received relatively little study from bioacousticians, remaining a topic more likely found in the realms Email: of urban legend (playing Mozart to your plants) than in peer-reviewed literature. [email protected] Indeed, although the Acoustical Society of America (ASA) has an Animal Bioacoustics Technical Committee, nothing is formally organized with respect to plants. However, over the past decade, interest in the relationship between sound and plants has begun to, well, sprout. Over the past two decades, nearly 200 publications on the subject have appeared. In May 2018, the ASA hosted an exploratory special session on plant bioacoustics that attempted to survey the many ways the field of acoustics intersects with fields of plants. This article germinated from that session, which explored four different topics relating acoustics to plants. This article begins with reviewing how plants distort and transmit sounds generated by insect pests and then examines some surprising examples of how plants have evolved to reflect and enhance animal sounds, potentially opening new facets in animal-plant interaction studies.
[Show full text]