1998/11/01 by Grégory Mahy, Jacques De Sloover, Anne-Laure Jacquemart +1 · 2 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Environmental Science · #Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies #Plant Parasitism and Resistance #Plant and animal studies
paper · doi:10.1139/b98-133
crossref issued 1998/11/01 · crossref published 1998/11/01 · crossref published-print 1998/11/01 · openalex publication_date 1998/11/01 · crossref created 2011/04/23 · crossref deposited 2020/01/05 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref indexed 2026/07/28 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Although specialist pollination systems are often thought to be the outcome of selection, wide evidence exists for generalization within plant-pollinator interactions. We studied the pollination system and reproductive success of Calluna vulgaris (L.) Hull over 3 years in an Upper Ardennes site in Belgium. A wide variety of insect visitors was recorded including Hymenoptera, Diptera, and Lepidoptera. Relative abundance of families and species of visitors varied markedly among years except for bees. Bumblebees and honeybees were the most efficient pollinators at the study site. Syrphid flies, mainly large ones, acted as important co-pollinators because of their high relative frequency. Calluna pollen was also dispersed by wind, and insect-exclusion experiments demonstrated that wind pollination contributed to reproductive success. Following open pollination, fruit set was high, ranging from 82.0 to 97.2% and independent of sampling location. Mean seed number per fruit was less than maximum potential seed number and varied strongly among sampling locations. We discuss this pollination system (generalist insect and wind) in terms of the ecological and geographical success of the species.Key words: Calluna vulgaris, pollinator visitation, insects, wind pollination, reproductive success.