Among-species differences in pollen quality and quantity limitation: Implications for endemics in biodiverse hotspots

Background and Aims Insufficient pollination is a function of quantity and quality of pollen receipt, and the relative contribution of each to pollen limitation may vary with intrinsic plant traits and extrinsic ecological properties. Community-level studies are essential to evaluate variation across species in quality limitation under common ecological conditions. This study examined whether endemic species are more limited by pollen quantity or quality than non-endemic co-flowering species in three endemic-rich plant communities located in biodiversity hotspots of different continents (Andalusia, California and Yucatan). Methods Natural variations in pollen receipt and pollen tube formation were analysed for 20 insect-pollinated plants. Endemic and non-endemic species that co-floweredwere paired in order to estimate and compare the quantity and quality components of pre-zygotic pollination success, obtained through piecewise regression analysis of the relationship between pollen grains and pollen tubes of naturally pollinated wilted flowers. Key Results Pollen tubes did not frequently exceed the number of ovules per flower. Only the combination of abundant and good quality pollen and a lownumberof ovules per flower conferred relief frompre-zygotic pollen limitation in the three stochastic pollination environments studied.Quality of pollen receiptwas found to be as variable as quantity among study species. The relative pollination success of endemic and non-endemic species, and its quantity and quality components, was community dependent. Conclusions Assessing both quality and quantity of pollen receipt is key to determining the ovule fertilization potential of both endemic and widespread plants in biodiverse hotspot regions. Large natural variation among flowers of the same species in the two components and pollen tube formation deserves further analysis in order to estimate the environmental, phenotypic and intraindividual sources of variation that may affect how plants evolve to overcome this limitation in different communities worldwide. © The Author 2013.Peer Reviewe

Plant–flower Visitor Networks In A Serpentine Metacommunity: Assessing Traits Associated With Keystone Plant Species

Consistent topology of plant–pollinator networks across space may be due to substitutability of the plant species most important for community function (keystone species). It is unclear, however, whether keystone species identity varies within a community type and what traits underlie this variation. Using a network biology approach, we assess whether keystone plant species vary across a metacommunity of five serpentine seeps in California and determine the features that predict their identity. We define keystone species as those with high strength, low node specialization index (NSI), and/or low d′ and determine whether these parameters are predicted by floral traits (flower biomass, number of open flowers per plant, symmetry, or stamen number) and/or ecological features (variation in local floral abundance, endemism) within seeps and across the metacommunity. Keystone species identity varied among seeps and was associated with local flower abundance: mean floral abundance correlated positively with strength but negatively with NSI within most seeps as well as across the metacommunity. For the metacommunity, flower biomass correlated negatively with NSI while variation in flower abundance correlated negatively with strength. Across the metacommunity, the d′ metric was associated with flower biomass, whereby plants with smaller flowers interacted with the most abundant pollinators across the metacommunity. Results suggest that connectance and interaction evenness may not be greatly influenced by community composition turnover due to substitution of keystone plant species across space. Keystone species can be predicted by functional traits but which trait (flower abundance or size) depended on the metric used and the level observed

Delimiting plant diversity that is functionally related via interactions with diurnal pollinators: An expanded use of rarefaction curves

The way in which taxonomic diversity relates to functional diversity is important for understanding the mechanisms that sustain ecosystem function and services. We investigated how an explicit consideration of plant-pollinator interactions influences our view of plant diversity. We studied three plant species-rich communities located in different biodiversity hotspot regions: two soil-specific plant communities with Mediterranean-climate, sandy dolomite outcrops in Andalusia (Spain) and serpentine seeps in California (USA), and a third community in the sub-tropical dry scrublands in Yucatan (Mexico). Sampling at three spatial scales (region, site, plot) and rarefaction analyses were used to characterize and compare spatial and temporal variation of entomophilous plant diversity based on species presence (“static plant diversity”), flower display sizes along the season (“dynamic flower diversity”), and pollinator visitation (“interaction-effective diversity”). The studied communities differed in the static diversity of plants, with sub-tropical dry scrublands being less diverse than the two Mediterranean communities. Reduction of static diversity at local scale was stronger in the richest Mediterranean communities and, thus, static diversity was similar among regions when considering finer (site-level) spatial scales. In addition, the two Mediterranean communities displayed more seasonal variation, thus reducing differences in dynamic diversity among regions, i.e. when considering finer temporal scales. These results suggested that, at finer spatio-temporal scales expected to be relevant for interactions with pollinators, plant communities are not necessarily as diverse as the region where they occur. Accordingly, interaction-effective diversity based on pollinator visitation was in all cases lower than expected relative to the diversity of flowers. Thus, diversity of visited flowers does not perfectly track diversity of flowering species but instead reaches asymptotes at much lower values than expected in the richest communities. Regional species diversity may support the functionality of interactions at broader spatial and temporal scales than they actually occur.Peer Reviewe

When the Romance is Over: Follower Perspectives of Aversive Leadership

While leadership is indisputably one of the most pervasive topics in our society, the vast majority of existing research has focused on leadership as a positive force. Taking a follower- centric approach to the study of leadership, we integrate research on the Romance of Leadership and the dark side of leadership by examining followers’ perceptions of aversive leadership in the context of public high schools. Although Meindl, Ehrlich, and Dukerich (1985) demonstrated that the Romance of Leadership also includes the overattribution of negative outcomes to leaders, subsequent research has failed to explore the implications of this potentially darker side of romanticizing leaders. Specifically, we examine perceptions of principals’ aversive leadership and traditional affective, behavioral, and performance outcomes of followers in a sample of 342 dyads. Followers assessed their principals’ leadership behaviors and self-rated their levels of job satisfaction, self-efficacy, and resistance, while principals assessed their followers’ citizenship behaviors, complaining behaviors, and job performance. Results show that perceptions of aversive leadership are positively related to follower resistance and negatively related to followers’ job satisfaction. In addition, a usefulness analysis revealed that follower-rated variables were significantly related to perceptions of aversive leadership above and beyond leader-rated variables, suggesting that the relationship between negative outcomes and aversive leadership may be more constructed than real. In sum, the tendency to romanticize leadership may also lead to a proclivity to readily misattribute or overattribute blame to leadership as a convenient scapegoat for negative outcomes. Alors que le leadership est incontestablement l’un des thèmes les plus envahissants de notre société, la grande majorité des recherches existantes a porté sur le leadership en tant que force positive. En adoptant une approche centrée sur le suiveur dans l’étude du leadership, nous examinant la perception qu’ont les collaborateurs du leadership insupportable dans le contexte des lycées publics. Quoique Meindl, Ehrlich, et Dukerich (1985) aient montré que la Romance du Leadership inclut aussi la surattribution de résultats négatifs aux leaders, les recherches ultérieures ont méconnu les implications de cet aspect potentiellement plus sombre des leaders idylliques. Nous analysons en particulier sur un échantillon de 342 dyades la perception du leadership répulsif du proviseur et les résultats habituels des collaborateurs en rapport avec l’affectivité, le comportement et les performances. Les collaborateurs ont noté les comportements de leadership de leur proviseur et auto-évalué leur niveau de satisfaction au travail, d’efficience et de résistance, alors que les proviseurs appréciaient les conduites de citoyenneté et de revendication, ainsi que la performance professionnelle. Les résultats montrent que la perception du leadership répulsif est Positivement reliée à la résistance du suiveur et négativement à sa satisfaction professionnelle. En outre, une analyse des plus fructueuses a révélé que les variables évaluées par les collaborateurs étaient significativement en relation avec la perception du leadership répulsif, bien plus qu’avec les variables évaluées par les leaders, ce qui indique que la relation entre les résultats médiocres et le leadership négatif serait plus construite que réelle. Au total, le penchant à l’idéalisation du leadership peut aussi bien conduire à une propension à trop facilement condamner à tort et à travers le leadership qu’à la désignation d’un bouc émissaire tout trouvé pour expliquer de mauvais résultats