Floral nectar production: what cost to a plant?
floral nectar cost
photosynthesis
plant energy
pollination
removal-enhanced nectar production
seed production
Journal
Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society
ISSN: 1469-185X
Titre abrégé: Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc
Pays: England
ID NLM: 0414576
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
12 2023
12 2023
Historique:
revised:
29
05
2023
received:
26
09
2022
accepted:
30
06
2023
medline:
7
11
2023
pubmed:
18
7
2023
entrez:
18
7
2023
Statut:
ppublish
Résumé
Floral nectar production is central to plant pollination, and hence to human wellbeing. As floral nectar is essentially a solution in water of various sugars, it is likely a valuable plant resource, especially in terms of energy, with plants experiencing costs/trade-offs associated with its production or absorption and adopting mechanisms to regulate nectar in flowers. Possible costs of nectar production may also influence the evolution of nectar volume, concentration and composition, of pollination syndromes involving floral nectar, and the production of some crops. There has been frequent agreement that costs of floral nectar production are significant, but relevant evidence is scant and difficult to interpret. Convincing direct evidence comes from experimental studies that relate either enhanced nectar sugar production (through repeated nectar removal) to reduced ability to produce seeds, or increased sugar availability (through absorption of additional artificial nectar) to increased seed production. Proportions of available photosynthate allocated by plants to nectar production may also indicate nectar cost. However, such studies are rare, some do not include treatments of all (or almost all) flowers per plant, and all lack quantitative cost-benefit comparisons for nectar production. Additional circumstantial evidence of nectar cost is difficult to interpret and largely equivocal. Future research should repeat direct experimental approaches that relate reduced or enhanced nectar sugar availability for a plant with consequent ability to produce seeds. To avoid confounding effects of inter-flower resource transfer, each plant should experience a single treatment, with treatment of all or almost all flowers per plant. Resource allocation by plants, pathways used for resource transfer, and the locations of resource sources and sinks should also be investigated. Future research should also consider extension of nectar cost into other areas of biology. For example, evolutionary models of nectar production are rare but should be possible if plant fitness gains and costs associated with nectar production are expressed in the same currency, such as energy. It should then be possible to understand observed nectar production for different plant species and pollination syndromes involving floral nectar. In addition, potential economic benefits should be possible to assess if relationships between nectar production and crop value are evaluated.
Substances chimiques
Plant Nectar
0
Sugars
0
Types de publication
Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
2078-2090Informations de copyright
© 2023 Cambridge Philosophical Society.
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