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Photo of Liam Kendall, employee at CEC

Liam Kendall

Researcher

Photo of Liam Kendall, employee at CEC

Self-compatible blueberry cultivars require fewer floral visits to maximize fruit production than a partially self-incompatible cultivar

Author

  • Liam K. Kendall
  • Vesna Gagic
  • Lisa J. Evans
  • Brian T. Cutting
  • Jessica Scalzo
  • Yolanda Hanusch
  • Jeremy Jones
  • Maurizio Rocchetti
  • Carolyn Sonter
  • Matthew Keir
  • Romina Rader
Show all

Summary, in English

Effective pollination is a complex phenomenon determined by the outcome of the interaction between pollen transfer and a plants' pollinator dependency, yet most studies investigate pollinator effectiveness without consideration of plant mating system differences.
We investigated pollinator effectiveness in three types of blueberry that differed in their degree of pollinator dependency as measured by plant mating system: two self-compatible highbush cultivars and one partially self-incompatible rabbiteye cultivar. We quantified pollinator effectiveness as a function of the fruit set and fruit weight resulting from single and multiple floral visits (2–15 visits), in comparison with estimates of fruit set and fruit weight resulting from experimental pollination treatments (open-pollination, cross-pollination and self-pollination).
Single-visit effectiveness of fruit set was similar across pollinator taxa but considerably higher in both self-compatible cultivars. The probability of fruit set in all three blueberry types improved in response to an increasing number of visits, but this relationship was steeper in self-compatible cultivars: >90% probability of fruit set was achieved in three to five visits. In the self-incompatible rabbiteye cultivar, 58% fruit set was achieved with 15 visits. Multiple visits improved fruit weight by 27%–48% in self-compatible cultivars, but there was no relationship in rabbiteye. Pollination deficits in fruit set and fruit weight due to self-pollination were most pronounced in rabbiteye.
Synthesis and applications. Improved understanding of cultivar-level mating system differences in plants will inform pollination planning and management in agroecosystems. Self-compatible (highbush) cultivars require less floral visitation to maximize fruit production. Therefore, these cultivars may be best suited to landscapes in which pollinator abundance is low, such as intensive and/or simple landscapes. In contrast, self-incompatible (rabbiteye) cultivars may benefit from the implementation of mixed-cultivar crop row plantings to facilitate cross-pollination.

Publishing year

2020-08-25

Language

English

Pages

2454-2462

Publication/Series

Journal of Applied Ecology

Volume

57

Issue

12

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

John Wiley & Sons Inc.

Keywords

  • blueberry
  • floral visitation
  • plant mating system
  • pollen self-compatibility
  • pollination
  • pollinator dependency
  • pollinator effectiveness

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0021-8901