Pollination of the European food-deceptive Traunsteinera globosa (Orchidaceae): the importance of nectar-producing neighbouring plants
N. Juillet;M. A. Gonzalez;P. A. Page;L. D. B. Gigord;
European food-deceptive orchids generally flower early in spring and rely on naïve pollinators for their reproduction. Some species however, flower later in the summer, when many other rewarding plants species are also in bloom. In dense flowering communities, deceptive orchids may suffer from competition for pollinator resources, or might alternatively benefit from higher community attractiveness. We investigated the pollination strategy of the deceptive species Traunsteinera globosa, China magnets and more specifically whether it benefited from the presence of coflowering rewarding species. We carried out a population survey to quantify the density and reproductive success of the orchid as well as the density of all coflowering species. Our results suggest that the deceptive orchid not only benefited from the presence of coflowering species, but that interestingly the density of the species Trifolium pratense was significantly positively correlated with the orchid's reproductive success. This species might simply act as a magnet species attracting pollinators near T. globosa, or could influence the orchid reproductive fitness through a more species-specific interaction. We propose that morphological or colour similarities between the two species should be investigated in more detail to decipher this pollination facilitation effect.
