Cumulative individual seed production in the polycarpic Caesalpinia gilliesii (Fabaceae): effects of temporal variability in floral display, plant density and pollination

Abstract

In polycarpic species, floral display size and density of conspecific neighbours are time variable as well as their effects on pollination and fecundity. Here, we address how individual pollinator-dependent seed production responds to changes in floral display size and the density of flowering conspecific neighbours. Using path analysis, we disentangle the partial effects of floral display size, the density of flowering neighbours and pollination intensity on the total seed output of the partially self-compatible shrub Caesalpinia gilliesii during three consecutive reproductive seasons. We also modelled the effects of temporal variability in floral offer and pollination intensity (as the coefficient of variation) on cumulative seed production over the study period. Floral display size had either positive or negative effects on pollination intensity in different reproductive seasons, but conspecific density had no significant effect within each season. However, cumulative seed production increased under lower temporal variability in conspecific density. Our results suggest that, because of the dynamic nature of floral offer in a polycarpic species, the temporal changes in floral display size and density may counteract each other reducing the risk of successive pollination failures and increasing seed production over time.