0000000000953746
AUTHOR
Markus Fischer
Effects of Inbreeding, Outbreeding, and Supplemental Pollen on the Reproduction of a Hummingbird-pollinated Clonal Amazonian Herb
Understory herbs are an essential part of tropical rain forests, but little is known about factors limiting their reproduction. Many of these herbs are clonal, patchily distributed, and produce large floral displays of nectar-rich 1-d flowers to attract hummingbird pollinators that may transport pollen over long distances. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of clonality, cross-proximity, and patchy distribution on the reproduction of the hummingbird-pollinated Amazonian herb Heliconia metallica. We experimentally pollinated flowers within populations with self-pollen and with pollen of different diversity, crossed flowers between populations, and added supplemental pollen …
Important Insights of the IPBES Regional Assessment on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services for Europe and Central Asia
Based on requests of IPBES member governments this assessment was elaborated by a team of more than 120 authors from 2015 to 2018. It shows, based on about 4000 sources, that nature provides broader contributions to people than acknowledged earlier. Further it shows that, while food production and energy biomass have increased, most other contributions decreased over recent decades. While high biodiversity would be required to provide multiple contributions of nature to people, the biodiversity of marine, inland surface water and terrestrial habitats and taxa also declined largely. Most of these trends were due to land and water use, and climate change, pollution and invasive species also p…