The Reproductive biology of Erica pudens

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dc.contributor.advisorMidgley, Jeremy Jen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorDignon, Nikien_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2015-09-30T13:24:48Z
dc.date.available2015-09-30T13:24:48Z
dc.date.issued2013en_ZA
dc.description.abstractErica is the largest genus in the Cape Florisitic Region (CFR) boasting a diverse range of floral morphology and pollination systems. Even though it is such a diverse genus, there is minimal research examining the pollination biology of specific species. This research inspects the pollination biology of Erica pudens. To do this we carried out pollinator exclusions, hand pollination experiments, rodent trapping, camera observations and pollen/ovule counts. This research also establishes whether E. pudens is another example of convergent evolution in Erica by establishing its phylogenetic position. E. pudens possesses floral characteristics that are consistent with the rodent-pollination syndrome. These characteristics include tightly-packed, pendulous inflorescences with a prostrate habit, found close to the floor, with a dull flower colour and winter flowering times. This research also found that E. pudens offers a high volume of nectar per floral head (up to 20.9μl) with a comparably high sugar concentration (23.7%). Even though these characteristics suggested rodent-pollination, there was no other evidence that conclusively demonstrated this. Only three rodents were captured, and few pollen tetrads were found in the faeces of the two Rhabdomys pumilio individuals (average of 13 and 1 respectively). There was very little footage captured of rodent activity around E. pudens flowers and none to demonstrate the foraging activities of a potential pollinator. The exclusion of pollinators showed no significant difference in swollen ovule dimensions between bagged flowers and caged flowers. Breeding experiments showed no significant difference between self-pollinated flowers and cross-pollinated flowers. These results suggested no need for a pollinator and the ability of E. pudens to undergo self-pollination. This could be an example of pollinator failure (due to small rodent populations) and the consequent evolution of self-pollination. The phylogenetic studies showed that E. pudens was another example of convergent evolution within Erica.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationDignon, N. (2013). <i>The Reproductive biology of Erica pudens</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Biological Sciences. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14122en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationDignon, Niki. <i>"The Reproductive biology of Erica pudens."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Biological Sciences, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14122en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationDignon, N. 2013. The Reproductive biology of Erica pudens. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Dignon, Niki AB - Erica is the largest genus in the Cape Florisitic Region (CFR) boasting a diverse range of floral morphology and pollination systems. Even though it is such a diverse genus, there is minimal research examining the pollination biology of specific species. This research inspects the pollination biology of Erica pudens. To do this we carried out pollinator exclusions, hand pollination experiments, rodent trapping, camera observations and pollen/ovule counts. This research also establishes whether E. pudens is another example of convergent evolution in Erica by establishing its phylogenetic position. E. pudens possesses floral characteristics that are consistent with the rodent-pollination syndrome. These characteristics include tightly-packed, pendulous inflorescences with a prostrate habit, found close to the floor, with a dull flower colour and winter flowering times. This research also found that E. pudens offers a high volume of nectar per floral head (up to 20.9μl) with a comparably high sugar concentration (23.7%). Even though these characteristics suggested rodent-pollination, there was no other evidence that conclusively demonstrated this. Only three rodents were captured, and few pollen tetrads were found in the faeces of the two Rhabdomys pumilio individuals (average of 13 and 1 respectively). There was very little footage captured of rodent activity around E. pudens flowers and none to demonstrate the foraging activities of a potential pollinator. The exclusion of pollinators showed no significant difference in swollen ovule dimensions between bagged flowers and caged flowers. Breeding experiments showed no significant difference between self-pollinated flowers and cross-pollinated flowers. These results suggested no need for a pollinator and the ability of E. pudens to undergo self-pollination. This could be an example of pollinator failure (due to small rodent populations) and the consequent evolution of self-pollination. The phylogenetic studies showed that E. pudens was another example of convergent evolution within Erica. DA - 2013 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2013 T1 - The Reproductive biology of Erica pudens TI - The Reproductive biology of Erica pudens UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14122 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/14122
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationDignon N. The Reproductive biology of Erica pudens. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Biological Sciences, 2013 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14122en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Biological Sciencesen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Scienceen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherBiological Sciencesen_ZA
dc.titleThe Reproductive biology of Erica pudensen_ZA
dc.typeBachelor Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelHonours
dc.type.qualificationnameBSc (Hons)en_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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