Reproductive biology and pollination ecology of the rare Yellowstone Park endemic <i>Abronia ammophila</i> (Nyctaginaceae)

Abstract

Abstract We examined the breeding system, reproductive output and pollination ecology of Abronia ammophila Greene, a rare and highly restricted endemic of Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. Floral morphology permits the automatic deposition of self‐pollen on the stigma of individual flowers, and male and female reproductive functions temporally overlap. In controlled hand‐pollination treatments, we found no significant difference among pollination treatments (unmanipulated, self‐pollinated or cross‐pollination). The species maintains a long reproductive season with high reproductive output (natural seed set ranged from 59 to 84%). Our results, along with pollinator observations, suggest that A. ammophila exhibits a mixed‐mating system: the species can produce seed without pollinators (via either autogamy or agamospermy), but is also visited by an array of pollinating insects that included moths, butterflies and bumblebees. However, noctuid moths were the most abundant pollinators. In contrast, other Abronia species are obligate outcrossers. The mixed‐mating system of A. ammophila may have evolved as a consequence of ecological pressures such as scarcity of mates or pollinators.