<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">One of the longest lived plants species,
a critically endangered, long-lived vine with ant pollinators!</font>
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<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">Patricia S. De Angelis, Ph.D.<br>
Botanist, Division of Scientific Authority-US Fish & Wildlife Service-International
Affairs<br>
Chair, Medicinal Plant Working Group-Plant Conservation Alliance<br>
4401 N. Fairfax Dr., Suite 110<br>
Arlington, VA 22203<br>
703-358-1708 x1753<br>
FAX: 703-358-2276<br>
<br>
Promoting sustainable use and conservation of our native medicinal plants.
<br>
<www.nps.gov/plants/medicinal><br>
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<br><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">García MB, Espadaler X, Olesen
JM (2012) Extreme Reproduction and Survival of a True Cliffhanger: The
Endangered Plant <i>Borderea chouardii</i> (Dioscoreaceae). PLoS ONE 7(9):
e44657. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0044657</font>
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<br><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><b>Extreme Reproduction and Survival
of a True Cliffhanger: The Endangered Plant <i>Borderea chouardii</i> (Dioscoreaceae)</b></font>
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<br><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><b>ABSTRACT: </b>Cliff sides are
extreme habitats, often sheltering a rich and unique flora. One example
is the dioecious herb <i>Borderea chouardii</i> (Dioscoreaceae), which
is a Tertiary, tropical relict, occurring only on two adjacent vertical
cliffs in the world. We studied its reproductive biology, which in some
aspects is extreme, especially the unusual double mutualistic role of ants
as both pollinators and dispersers. We made a 2-year pollination census
and four years of seed-dispersal experiments, recording flower visitors
and dispersal rates. Fruit and seed set, self-sowing of seeds, seedling
recruitment, and fate of seedlings from seeds sowed by different agents
were scored over a period of 17 years. The ants <i>Lasius grandis</i> and
<i>L. cinereus</i> were the main pollinators, whereas another ant <i>Pheidole
pallidula</i> dispersed seeds. Thus ants functioned as double mutualists.
Two thirds of all new seedlings came from self-sown seeds, and 1/3 was
dispersed by ants, which gathered the seeds with their oil-rich elaiosome.
Gravity played a minor role to dispersal. Both ant dispersal and self-sowing
resulted in the same survival rate of seedlings. A double mutualism is
a risky reproductive strategy, but <i>B. chouardii</i> buffers that by
an unusual long–term demographic stability (some individuals exceed 300
years in lifespan) and its presence in a climatically very stable habitat,
inaccessible to large herbivores. Such a combination of traits and habitat
properties may explain the persistence of this relict species.</font>
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<br><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><b>Full article: </b></font><a href=http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0044657><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><b>http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0044657</b></font></a>
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