Reproduction
| Helianthemum croceum fruits |
Male and female components are relevant for plants reproductive success of hermaphroditic species, however their join quantification is usally complex and, thus, we frequently use seed production as an estimate of plant individual fitness. Adopting such convention, in our project we estimate individual fruit set and the number of seeds/fruit in 20-40 individuals per site to compare reproductive success of endemic and non-endemic species. We can predict that increased flower visitation rates will improve both reproductive components but increased pollen quality will mostly affect the number of seeds per fruit. Thus, we seek to relate quantity and quality components of pollination succes and reproductive succes in our study species. Seed mass was also considered as indicative of seed quality since preliminary germination trials were not promising enough to go further alongo this way. |