Work

Do floral traits associated with pollination concurrently increase vulnerability to seed predators?

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Floral traits associated with floral display that likely enhance pollinator attraction may inadvertently increase attractiveness to antagonists such as pre-dispersal seed predators, yet direct tests of this trade-off within closely related species remain scarce. We investigated this relationship in three threatened grass aloes - Aloe albida , A. craibii , and A. chortolirioides - that differ markedly in floral colour, display, morphology, and flowering ecology. We quantified fruit and seed damage, identified predator and parasitoid assemblages, and tested whether independently measured floral and plant traits predicted fruit and/or seed utilisation within each species. Substantial reproductive loss occurred in all three species, with fruit utilisation ranging from 45 to 79% and seed utilisation from 20 to 55%. The chalcid wasp Eurytoma aloineae was the most abundant seed predator across species. Species-level predation was lowest in the smaller, white-flowered A. albida and higher in the more conspicuous A. craibii and A. chortolirioides ; however, within-species model selection provided little support for a general effect of floral display size on predation. In A. craibii , seed utilisation increased with perianth tube depth, whereas the corresponding relationship with fruit utilisation was marginal. These results indicate species-specific associations between floral morphology and pre-dispersal predation, but do not demonstrate that increased adaptation to promote pollinator attraction caused greater predation. The findings emphasise the need to consider floral display, resource availability, antagonists, and disturbance history together when evaluating reproductive success in threatened grass aloes.

Source: Arthropod-Plant Interactions

DOI: 10.1007/s11829-026-10301-1

Authors: Verona Govender, Ed T. F. Witkowski, Glynis V. Cron

Institution: University of the Witwatersrand

Language: English

Topic: Plant and animal studies

Subfield: Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

Field: Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Life on land

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,090