
Gerhard GottsbergerUlm University | UULM · Botanical Garden and Herbarium
Gerhard Gottsberger
PhD Professor emeritus
About
211
Publications
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Introduction
Studies of basal angiosperms
Additional affiliations
September 1993 - March 2006
September 1993 - March 2006
March 1983 - September 1993
Publications
Publications (211)
Pollination is one of the most important plant-animal interactions driving the joint diversification and evolution of seed plants and animals. Typically classified as a mutualistic relationship, pollination indeed can present a myriad of interactions whose outcomes are highly conditional on the costs and benefits of each partner, depending on the m...
A B S T R A C T
Calycanthus (Calycanthaceae), a genus for which three species are described, belongs to an early diverging
lineage of angiosperms. As far as known, all species have highly specialized sap beetle (Nitidulidae) pollination
systems. While the floral scent is likely to play a key role in attracting the beetles to the flowers, its chemis...
We report on the reproductive biology, pollinators, and thermogenesis of the widely distributed Araceae species, Xanthosoma striatipes. We analyzed the floral scent in one population and compared it to a previous study. Xanthosoma striatipes was studied at three sites in Brazil, São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Maranhão. The results showed constancy of...
A new species of Annonaceae, Annona longipedicellata, from the Brazilian Amazon is described and illustrated. It differs from A. hypoglauca and A. scandens, its closest two species, by much longer pedicels, densely covered red-brown hairs on leaves and flowers and additionally from A. hypoglauca by its habit as liana.
Orchids of the subtribe Stanhopeinae are renowned for their strongly fragrant "perfume flowers" and pollination by scent-collecting male orchid bees (Euglossini). Interestingly, there are exceptions to the rule, in which taxa in different genera have faint floral scents or none at all-at least to the human nose. This raises the question if they fol...
Abstract
The Tocoyena formosa-complex and its parental species are re-evaluated. We emphasize that the three
previously described varieties of T. formosa and the coherence of their different character syndromes
appear to be expressions of a hybrid origin. The recently described species T. arenicola, and another
new species from Mato Grosso, T. pros...
Abstract
To better understand the complex pollination biology of Carludovicoideae (Cyclanthaceae), four species from French Guiana were investigated both in the field and laboratory. The pistillate flowers of all species of the subfamily have long staminodes up to 10 cm long or more, which emit scent and apparently attract beetles during anthesis....
A comprehensive census of a hectare of cerrado s.s. in southeastern Brazil, a small-tree and scrub woodland physiognomy, allowed the evaluation of whether pollination and dispersal modes are correlated with the stratification of the vegetation and if so, in what way. Generalist pollination, and pollination by small bees, as well as ornithophily and...
A population of Unonopsis guatteriodes (Annonaceae) in Amazonia differs from another population in Minas Gerais by flower morphology, pollination biology and floral scent emissions. In view of the differences , we encourage more in-depth studies to reveal whether the synonymous U. lindmanii R.E. Fries should be re-established as a valid taxon for t...
The feeding of pollinating dynastid-scarab beetles on nutritious tissue of Annonaceae flowers results in macroscopically visible gnawing marks on petals. In the present paper, we present and discuss examples of such gnawing marks on Annonaceae from the Cerrado and the Amazon Forest in Brazil. The localization of gnawing marks on the petals and the...
Orchids of the subtribe Stanhopeinae are renowned for their strongly fragrant “perfume flowers” and the pollination by scent collecting male orchid bees (Euglossini). Interestingly, there are exceptions to the rule, where taxa in different genera have faint floral scents or do not smell at all – at least to the human nose. This raises the question...
Differentiation in angiosperms is often linked to small changes in floral features including morphology , but also phenology and floral resources, which select different arrays of pollinators and result in disassortative mating. Unonopsis is a bee-pollinated genus in the mostly beetle-pollinated tropical family Annonaceae. We studied Unonopsis guat...
Key message
The development of a new, low-impact, canopy-access system is described from its original idea until the final realization after about 30 years.
Abstract
Based on the experience with previously existing methods, a new Canopy Operation Permanent Access System (COPAS), featuring a gondola or harness moveable in a three-dimensional way ha...
The South-East Asian palm genus Eugeissona has an unusual flower structure, and it occupies a basal position in the early divergent palm subfamily Calamoideae. This article describes the floral structure of Eugeissona
tristis, a palm that has been associated with an uncommon pollination syndrome in which non-flying mammals ingest large amounts of f...
Data of six studied Neotropical Anaxagorea species are analyzed and discussed with respect to the population structure, flowering phenology, flower morphology, anthesis, scent emission, thermogenesis, floral visitors, breeding system, fruit-set and seed dispersal. The probably reason for the patchy distribution of small populations of Anaxagorea sp...
An updated description of the pollination and reproductive biology of basal angiosperms is given to
show their principal associations with pollinating agents. The review considers members of the
ANITA grade, as well as some basal monocots, the magnoliids, Chloranthaceae and Ceratophyllaceae.
Morphological, physiological and behavioral characteristi...
The pollen/ovule (P/O) ratio has been used as predictor of the reproductive system of angiosperms (lowest P/O values correspond to obligate autogamous species while the highest correlate with obligate xenogamous species) but it does not keep for all the taxa. The relation of P/O index with pollen and stigma size, flower diameter, pollen vitality, s...
Due to their fascinating pollination mechanisms, the focus of research in euglossine bee pollinated plants has mostly been on perfume flowers, almost ignoring that the bees are also very important pollinators for hundreds of Neotropical nectar and pollen plants. Therefore, considering plant-pollinator interactions especially on the plant community...
The pollination of perfume plants by euglossine bees has been studied for more than 40 years. However, only few studies have investigated the variability of volatile organic compounds in the floral scent and its putative role for pollinator attraction and speciation on the population level. We investigated a large population of the Gongora quinquen...
Flowers of Annonaceae are characterized by fleshy petals, many stamens with hard connective shields and numerous carpels with sessile stigmas often covered by sticky secretions. The petals of many representatives during anthesis form a closed pollination chamber. Protogynous dichogamy with strong scent emissions especially during the pistillate sta...
Floral nectar composition has been explained as an adaptation to factors that are either directly or indirectly related to pollinator attraction. However, it is often unclear whether the sugar composition is a direct adaptation to pollinator preferences. Firstly, the lower osmolality of sucrose solutions means that they evaporate more rapidly than...
The two cerrado palms Butia paraguayensis and Syagrus petraea were studied with regard to parasitizing and pollinating insects that visit their reproductive organs. At the study site in Botucatu, São Paulo State, both species occurred together, while at the study site in Indianópolis, Minas Gerais state, only S. petraea was growing. Bees of the sub...
The Philodendron bipinnatifidum complex of Philodendron subgenus Meconostigma may comprise four species, which because of only slight and not very distinct morphological differences are not all unanimously recognized as good species. To find out whether these species are reproductively isolated, we studied the flowering rhythm, thermogenesis and po...
Many plants attract their pollinators with floral scents, and these olfactory signals are especially important at night, when visual signals become inefficient. Dynastid scarab beetles are a speciose group of night-active pollina-tors, and several plants pollinated by these insects have methoxylated aromatic compounds in their scents. However, ther...
The literature supports a positive correlation between pollen size and style length and that pollen size may be affected by a trade-off with pollen number. A correlation between pollen size and pollinator type has been hypothesized by some authors but not confirmed. To assess these associations, pollen grain number, pollen grain diameter and style...
Cyclocephaline scarabs are specialised scent-driven pollinators, implicated with the reproductive success of several Neotropical plant taxa. Night-blooming flowers pollinated by these beetles are thermogenic and release intense fragrances synchronized to pollinator activity. However, data on floral scent composition within such mutualistic interact...
Strong evidence exists that fragmentation negatively affects pollination and plant reproduction, but little research has been conducted with regards to tropical trees. Specifically, effects of forest fragmentation on reproduction of plants with beetle-pollinated flowers are poorly understood, and there are no data on the impact of fragmentation on...
Changes of nectar resources offered by hummingbird-visited plants in the eastern Andes of southern Ecuador were studied in an area of 1 hectare over the course of a full year. A total of 3186 flowering plant individuals were visited by hummingbirds, belonging to 67 species, 29 genera and 12 families. The mean nectar volume per flower and day was 38...
Reproductive success of many plant species declines in fragmented habitat, but this effect is little studied in trees of tropical rain forest understorey. Paypayrola blanchetiana (Violaceae) is a continuous-flowering treelet endemic to the Atlantic rain forest of north-east Brazil. Plants are distributed in localized patches. Flower, fruit and seed...
Duguetia cadaverica (Annonaceae), a small understory tree of humid primary forest from the Guianas to Pará state, Brazil, unites several unusual blossom and floral characters such as flagelliflory and putrid-smelling flowers, respectively. The few pollination studies conducted in the large genus Duguetia have shown that species are usually cantharo...
Studies during the last decades on representatives of Annonaceae have revealed their diversification with regard to pollination. Examples are given of species pollinated by beetles (cantharophily), which is the predominant mode of the majority of species worldwide, by small or large beetles (both groups having either diurnal or nocturnal flowers wi...
Tropical forests are seriously threatened by fragmentation and habitat loss. The impact of fragment size and forest configuration on the composition of seed rain is insufficiently studied. For the present study, seed rain composition of small and large forest fragments (8-388 ha) was assessed in order to identify variations in seed abundance, speci...
Flowering and fruiting biology of Magnolia ovata was studied in Atlantic forests in the interior of São Paulo State, Brazil. The large, bisexual flowers are protogynous, nocturnal, thermogenic and emit a strong scent in two consecutive evenings. In the first night of anthesis, the flowers are in the pistillate stage and thermogenesis starts at abou...
We present the first pollination data on Neotropical species of Violaceae with actinomorphic flowers. Floral biology of Paypayrola blanchetiana and Amphirrhox longifolia were studied in Brazilian Atlantic rainforest. Petals of both species form a corolla tube, restricting access to floral rewards to visitors with long mouth parts. Flowers lack a sp...
Floral biology, phenology, and fruit set of Anaxagorea dolichocarpa SPRAGUE & SANDWITH (Annonaceae) was studied in the Atlantic forest in Northeast Brazil. Herein, the thick petals form a floral chamber, which is accessible only to small insects. Flowers are protogynous, without overlap between the carpellate and the staminate phase. The anthesis s...
Heterodichogamy in a natural population of an Annonaceae species from the rainforests of French Guiana is described for the
first time. Anaxagorea prinoides had bisexual flowers and two floral morphs within the studied population were protogynous. The population under study comprised
7 mature trees belonging to one morph and 12 to the other. Statis...
Breeding system and pollination biology of an isolated population of Cymbopetalum brasiliense (Annonaceae), a large-flowered understory tree, was studied during two consecutive flowering seasons in October/November
2007 and September/October 2008. Flowers were morphologically comparable to other Cymbopetalum species and generally to other Annonacea...
Seven species from five genera of Annonaceae were studied with regard to their flower biology and pollination in the Southwest Province of Cameroon, West Africa. They have protogynous hermaphroditic flowers, with exception of Uvariopsis species, which are monoecious. Fused petals of Isolona campanulata remain apically spreading and open during anth...
The ability of degraded areas to recover secondary vegetation and the degree of integrity of plant–animal interactions of the resulting vegetation is getting increasingly important for biodiversity and landscape conservation. We studied the seed dispersal and pollination modes of woody species of two 12-year-old secondary forest patches, beforehand...
We studied the reproductive biology of three sympatric Araceae species, Anthurium sagittatum, A. thrinax and Spathiphyllum humboldtii in French Guiana. The plants flowered simultaneously and were visited by scent-collecting male euglossine bees, which were apparently their major pollinators. In total, each species was visited by 3-7 euglossine spec...
The reproductive biology of the mycoheterotrophic Voyria caerulea, V. clavata and V. rosea (Gentianaceae) was studied in French Guiana. Floral characteristics indicated adaptations to long-tongued flower visitors. The three species possess large, conspicuously colored flowers that produced sucrose-rich nectar (concentrations: 16.4%-23.9%) and emit...
The reproductive biology of the mycoheterotrophic Voyria caerulea, V. clavata and V. rosea (Gentianaceae) was studied in French Guiana. Floral characteristics indicated adaptations to long–tongued flower visitors. The three species possess large, conspicuously colored flowers that produced sucrose–rich nectar (concentrations: 16.4%–23.9%) and emit...
The roles of floral thermogenesis in pollination biology include attraction and reward of insects. Magnolia ovata (A.St.-Hil.) Spreng. produces ~56 g, bisexual, protogynous and scented flowers. Two distinct episodes of thermogenesis occur during anthesis: one beginning at about sunset and lasting ~3 h in the female phase and another that occurs syn...
During the past several decades, the pollination biology of Old World plant species pollinated by flying foxes and of New World plants pollinated by highly specialized nectar-feeding glossophagine bats has been studied in detail. However, little is known about Neotropical plants that are pollinated by less specialized phyllostomid bats. Therefore,...
The composition of the floral nectar sugars and amino acids of four species of Passiflora (P. foetida, P. caerulea, P. suberosa, and P. misera) included in different infrageneric taxa and with distinct pollination mechanisms has been studied. The effect of weather
and floral age on nectar volume, existence, and total and relative amounts of the var...
Parkia pendula occurs in Brazil in Amazonia and in the northeastern Atlantic Forest. In the latter, its buds, nectar, and seedpod gum are discussed to be keystone resources for the mammalian fauna. To enhance the knowledge about these important nourishment sources, the aim of this study was to detect and describe distinct phases in the flower and p...
Spatial variation in pollinator composition and abundance is a well-recognized phenomenon. However, a weakness of many studies claiming specificity of plant-pollinator interactions is that they are often restricted to a single locality. The aim of the present study was to investigate pollinator effectiveness of the different flower visitors to the...
In the literature, it has been mentioned that the seedpod gum of Parkia pendula is used for catching birds. Here we present an observation of a Tropidurus hispidus individual that died after being glued to the substrate by the gum of P. pendula in the Atlantic Forest of Pernambuco State. This observation proves the enormous gluing performance of th...
Pollination of Unonopsis stipitata (Annonaceae) by males of two perfume-collecting bees, Euglossa imperialis and Eulaema bombiformis (Euglossini) is described. This is the first detailed account of this pollination mode in a member of a basal angiosperm family. Pollinator behaviour, identification of the odour bouquet and electrophysiological react...
This study evaluates the effects of fragmentation on the spatial and temporal dynamics of small litterfall production in Atlantic rainforest in Pernambuco State, Brazil. Litterfall was collected for 24 months at two 0.2ha sites, located in the forest edge zone and the forest interior, within a rainforest patch of about 300ha. Structural parameters...
Edge effects on germination, seedling establishment, and the population structure of Parkia pendula were studied in a fragment of northeastern Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Germination and seedling survival were observed underneath adult trees in the edge zone and in the forest interior; the population structure was examined in plots with a total area...
This short review summarizes and links classical works with recent publications to give an overview about the main processes of fragmentation of the lowland Atlantic Forest of Pernambuco since colonial times and to show how this process continued during the agricultural revolution up to the present. The lowland Atlantic Forest of Pernambuco is an e...
Edge effects on germination, seedling establishment, and the population structure of Parkia pendula were studied in a fragment of northeastern Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Germination and seedling survival were observed underneath adult trees in the edge zone and in the forest interior; the population structure was examined in plots with a total area...
the pleasure of making his acquaintance. Carrying his Olympus stereo dissecting microscope in his suitcase and lens in hand, we explored coastal dry forest remnants not far from Santa Marta, in 40°C temperatures, revisiting an area he hadn't been to for 50 years. We then mounted the Andes to visit a reserve near Villa de Leyva, reuniting us with Ge...
Nectar production and flower visitors of the night-flowering Saponaria officinalis L. (Caryophyllaceae) were studied in relation to the reproductive success. Nectar production was worthwhile for nocturnal flower visitors. Nectar standing crop was about 267 μg sugar per flower, and comparison of nectar offering of covered and freely exposed flowers...
The book, published in June 2006, treats the cerrado (one of the top biodiversity hotspots in the world), a large-scale South American vegetation, its formation and origin, its plants and their adaptations, their rhythms of life, and their interactions with animals.-etation, its structure, dynamics and presumed origin. Emphasis is on the adap tatio...
In the second volume, pollination and seed dispersal phenomena are described, and emphasis placed on how these processes, essentially plant-animal interrelationships, are critical to the maintenance and regeneration of this ecosystem.
In the first volume, we examine in detail the vegetation, its structure, dynamics and presumed origin of the Cerrado. Emphasis is on the adaptational features of plants in relation to their physical environment, in particular climate, soil conditions and fire. Further, we discuss the utility to humans of cerrado plants, the influence of man upon th...
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