Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2000. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 87-90). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2000. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 87-90). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Queensland, 2005. / Includes bibliography.

Thesis (D.Phil(Zoology))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references Available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

The genus Erica is the most species rich in the Cape Floristic Kingdom, yet there are limited data on the various flower-pollinator interactions and breeding systems for the majority of these species. Until recently research has focussed on predictive floral traits, including flower shape, length of corolla and corolla opening to identify likely pollinators in this genus. Field observations provide an empirical test of such predictions. This study investigated three species of Erica and compared their pollination and breeding systems and floral biology. Research, including field experiments and pollinator observations was undertaken in the Vogelgat Private Nature Reserve, Maanschynkop Nature Reserve and Boskloof farm in the vicinity of Hermanus in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Field observations were conducted to determine what flower- visitor interactions occurred, while nectar volumes and sugar concentrations were measured to determine the value of the reward to the different visitors. Selective exclusion and breeding system experiments were carried out to determine whether these Erica species were capable of autonomous self-fertilization or whether they are pollinator dependent for breeding success. The unusual morphology of Erica lanuginosa suggested rodent-pollination. Field observations, including photographs of visits to plants in the field, the presence of pollen in scat sample and selective exclusion and breeding system experiments identified rodents, primarily Acomys subspinosus to be the primary pollinator. Long-proboscid flies of the family Nemestrinidae were found, on the basis of field observations to be responsible for pollination of the endemic Erica aristata. This was supported by with nectar volume and sugar concentration samples which are consistent with other long-proboscid fly-pollinated plant species. Selective exclusion and breeding system experiments undertaken confirmed that Erica aristata required a pollinator to set seed. Observations and breeding trials revealed bird-pollination in Erica sessiliflora. Nectar volume and sugar concentrations in Erica sessiliflora were in line with other sunbird-pollinated plant species, providing the necessary rewards for sunbirds visiting this species. Specialised pollination by single pollinators was found in all three species and results from breeding system experiments show that out-crossing is important. Further research into pollinator-flower interactions in the genus Erica is necessary, not least to understand more fully the conservation importance of specific pollinators.

Xylose is an unusual nectar sugar found in the nectar of Protea and Faurea (Proteaceae). Since nectar composition is an important floral characteristic in plant strategies for ensuring reproductive success, the unexplained presence of xylose in Protea nectar prompted this study of the interaction between pollinators and Protea species. Among pollinators that visit Proteaflowers in the south-western Cape Floral Kingdom, South Africa, insects and birds show an aversion to, and are poor assimilators of, xylose, whereas rodents such as Namaqua rock mice Aethomys namaquensis are the only pollinators so far shown to consume xylose willingly, and are able to obtain metabolic energy from this sugar. Mammalian tissues are not capable of catabolizing xylose efficiently, but certain gastrointestinal microflora are, through a process of fermentation which produces short-chain fatty acids used by host animals in oxidative metabolism. I explored mechanisms enabling Aethomys namaquensis to utilize xylose, in particular, the role of resident intestinal microflora in this process. Chapter One discusses pollination syndromes and the definitions thereof, mammal pollination, with particular reference to Australia and South Africa, and explains the rationale behind the questions addressed in this thesis. To assess xylose utilization in wild-caught mice with and without their natural gastrointestinal microflora, an antibiotic treatment was developed (Chapter Two). The veterinary antimicrobial agent, Baytril 10% oral solution, was found to be effective in significantly reducing gut microflora in animals on a four-day treatment protocol. The protocol developed here reduced the gut microflora sufficiently for subsequent experiments comparing xylose utilization in mice with and without intact microflora. Xylose utilization was assessed using 14C-labelled xylose (Chapter Three). Rock mice were caught during Protea humifloraflowering and non-flowering seasons, and fed 14C-labelled xylose. Exhaled CO 2 and excreted urine and faeces were collected, and label recovery determined. These experiments showed that xylose-utilizing bacteria in the rock mouse gut are very important for xylose utilization. More efficient xylose utilization during the flowering season suggests that this component of the gut microflora is inducible. Culturable gut microflora were then isolated from rock mouse faecal and caecal samples, assessed for xylose utilization to identify positive xylose-fermenters and classified by 16S rRNA based taxonomy (Chapter Four). Faecal isolates were Lactobacillus murinus and Enterococcus faecium, and caecal isolates were three Bacillus species, Shigella boydii, one Arthrobacter species and two fungal isolates from Aspergillus and Penicillium genera. The types and concentrations of short-chain fatty acids arising from xylose fermentation by caecal microflora were measured using gas chromatography. The fatty acid profile produced by rock mouse gut microflora is similar to that for other animals that rely on gut microbial fermentation to produce fatty acids then used in oxidative metabolism. Chapter Five concludes with a discussion of possible explanations for the presence of xylose as a nectar sugar, its ecological significance, and the relevance of the fermentative capacity of pollinator digestive systems for xylose utilization in animals. / Thesis (PhD (Zoology))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Zoology and Entomology / unrestricted

A growing body of work reveals that animal-mediated pollination is negatively affected by anthropogenic disturbance. Landscape-scale disturbance results in two often inter-related processes: (1) habitat loss, and (2) disruptions of habitat configuration (i.e. fragmentation). Understanding the relative effects of such processes is critical in designing effective management strategies to limit pollination and pollinator decline. I reviewed existing published work from 1989 to 2009 and found that only six of 303 studies separated the effects of habitat loss from fragmentation. I provide a synthesis of the current landscape, behavioral, and pollination ecology literature in order to present preliminary multiple working hypotheses to explain how these two landscape processes might independently influence pollination dynamics (Chapter 2). Despite the potential importance of independent effects of habitat fragmentation, effects on pollination remain largely untested. Studies designed to disentangle the independent effects of habitat loss and fragmentation are essential for gaining insight into landscape-mediated pollination declines. I also found that the field of landscape pollination ecology could benefit from quantification of the matrix, landscape functional connectivity, and pollinator movement behavior. To test the hypothesis that pollinator movement can be influenced by landscape configuration, I translocated radio-tagged hummingbirds across agricultural and forested landscapes near Las Cruces, Costa Rica (Chapter 3). I found return paths were on average more direct in forested than in agricultural landscapes. In addition, movement paths chosen in agricultural landscapes were more forested than the most direct route suggesting that hummingbirds avoided crossing open areas when possible. To determine if differences in pollinator movement translated to differences in plant reproduction, I tested the relative importance of landscape composition versus configuration on the reproductive success of Heliconia tortuosa, a hummingbird-pollinated forest herb (Chapter 4). I used a stratified random sampling design to select sites across orthogonal gradients in patch size, amount of forest, and elevation. I tested four landscape change hypotheses (i.e., local, landscape composition, landscape fragmentation, and fragmentation threshold). I found that Heliconia reproduction supported both the local site and landscape fragmentation hypotheses. Seed set increased with increasing forest patch size independent of amount of forest in the surrounding landscape. I also found that increasing patch size positively influenced the relative abundance of pollinators. The observed differences in seed set likely resulted from differences in hummingbird movements (Chapter 3) and/or abundance under different landscape configurations. / Graduation date: 2013