Pollination and Predation Limit Fruit Set in a Shrub, Bourreria succulents (Boraginaceae), after Hurricanes on San Salvador Island, Bahamas 1

Hurricanes have been assumed to reduce the reproduction of plants, either directly by leaf stripping and stress or indirectly by reducing pollinators. I examined the pollination and fruit set of a common shrub, Bourreria succulenta , after hurricanes on San Salvador island, Bahamas. Contrary to the assumption of resource limitation, B. succulenta showed unusually prolific flowering after Hurricane Lili stripped leaves from most of the plants in October 1996. I predicted that the abundant flowering would saturate pollinators and that fruit set would be pollination-limited. Fruit set was strongly pollination-limited by 71 percent. Butterflies are probably the major pollinators and were present at the site, but they rarely visited B. succulenta flowers even though flowers were brimming with nectar. Nectarivorous birds (Bananaquits and Bahama Wbodstars) visit B. succulenta flowers, but their populations were decimated by Hurricane Lili and they rarely visited flowers during this time. Fruit set was also severely predation-limited; a moth caterpillar (Gelechiidae) was extremely abundant and ate buds, flowers, and fruits, causing a further 68 percent reduction in fruit set. Together, pollination limitation and predation limitation reduced fruit set to only 7 percent or less. Predation was also intense in 1999 after Hurricane Floyd and resulted in 11 percent fruit set or less. Whether or not hurricanes were the cause of limited pollinators or abundant predators, the resulting low fruit set could have population effects because hurricanes can provide opportunities for the recruitment of new plants. These results emphasize that understanding plant–animal interactions may be necessary for predicting the effects of hurricanes on plant reproductive success, which may affect subsequent recruitment. Species on small islands like San Salvador (150 km 2 ) with relatively few species may be especially vulnerable to environmental disturbances such as hurricanes.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/75721/1/j.1744-7429.2001.tb00184.x.pd

Assessing ethical consumer behavior for sustainable development: The mediating role of brand attachment

Despite being ethically concerned, sometimes ethically minded consumers opted for unethical brands. This research aims to uncover the underlying reasons and the role of self-congruence theory to bridge this intention-behavior gap. This paper analyses the impact of actual self-concept (ASC) and ideal self-congruence (ISC) on different dimensions of ethically minded consumer behavior (EMCB) in presence of brand attachment (BA) as mediator. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is used to investigate these issues in a sample of 674 respondents. The results reveal that the positively significant relationship of the ASC and ISC with the dimensions of EMCB is negatively mediated by BA. For managers, findings offer a strategical direction and real-world approach to improving BA and ethical concerns simultaneously without exploiting customer's actual self while promising a strong customer value. This study develops holistic theoretical model that addresses the intention-behavior gap in sustainable development literature and enhances the understanding of self-congruence and ethically minded consumption where brands are involved