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FACTORS INFLUENCING THE REPRODUCTIVE SUCCESS OF IPOMOEA PES-CAPRAE (CONVOLVULACEAE) AROUND THE GULF OF MEXICO |
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| Authors: | Margaret S Devall Leonard B Thien |
| Institution: | U.S. Forest Service, Southern Forest Experiment Station, Room T-10210, New Orleans, Louisiana, 70113
Tulane University, Biology Department, New Orleans, Louisiana, 70118 |
| Abstract: | The reproductive biology of Ipomoea pes-caprae, a pantropical beach morning glory, was studied at five sites around the Gulf of Mexico. The primary pollinators were Xylocopa species (carpenter bees) which dispersed pollen up to 90 m. Exclusion experiments demonstrated that ants feeding on extrafloral nectaries increased seed set but did not protect seeds from predation by the bruchid beetle Megacerus. The water-dispersed seed and long-range dispersal of pollen may function to counter the sporophytic incompatability mechanism of the plant; populations exhibit a large neighborhood size. Key reproductive factors in the life cycle of I. pes-caprae are the long-range pollen flow and mass germination of water-dispersed seeds. |
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