Data from: Non-native insects dominate daytime pollination in a high-elevation Hawaiian dryland ecosystem

PREMISE OF THE STUDY: Over one-third of the native flowering plant species in the Hawaiian Islands are listed as federally Threatened or Endangered. Lack of sufficient pollination could contribute to reductions in populations, reproduction, and genetic diversity among these species, but has been little studied. METHODS: We used systematic observations and manual flower treatments to quantify flower visitation and outcrossing dependency of eight native (including four Endangered) plant species in a dryland ecosystem in Hawaii: Argemone glauca, Bidens menziesii, Dubautia linearis, Haplostachys haplostachya, Sida fallax, Silene lanceolata, Stenogyne angustifolia, Tetramolopium arenarium. KEY RESULTS: During 576.36 hours of flower observations, only insects visited the flowers. Out of all recorded flower visits, 85% were performed by non-native species, particularly honeybee (Apis mellifera) and flies in the family Syrphidae. Some plant species received little visitation (e.g., S. angustifolia received one visit in 120 observation hours), while others were visited by a wide diversity of insects. The Endangered plant species were visited by fewer visitor taxa than were the common native plant species. For six of the focal plant species, bagging of flowers to exclude pollinators resulted in significant reductions in seed set. CONCLUSIONS: The flower visitor community in this system, although heavily dominated by non-native insects, appears to be facilitating pollination for multiple plant species. Non-native insects may thus be sustaining biotic interactions otherwise threatened with disruption in this island ecosystem. This may be particularly important for the studied Endangered plant species, which exhibit fewer partners than the more common plant species. In compliance with data protection regulations, please contact the publication office if you would like to have your personal information removed from the database.

搜集汇总

背景与挑战

背景概述

该数据集总结了夏威夷高海拔旱地生态系统中非本土昆虫在白天授粉中的主导作用研究。研究发现85%的花访由非本土昆虫（如蜜蜂和食蚜蝇）完成，且濒危植物物种的访客多样性较低，但非本土昆虫可能帮助维持了关键授粉互动，对生态保护具有重要意义。