Min Chen and Xue-yong Zhao
Comparative Reproductive Biology and Pollen Limitation of Tamarix chinensis in Wild and Managed Populations in Arid NW China
Tamarix chinensis is ecologically important species in the arid regions of Northwest China. In order to understand its reproductive biology and pollen limitation, flowering dynamics, pollen viability, floral visitors and their behaviors, pollen limitation and breeding system were studied. It was observed that the species show four reproductive characteristics. First, the flower production period and flowering peak were different between wild and managed populations, being longer in the managed. Second, T. chinensis can be pollen-limited, pollen limitation appeared to be proportionally more intense in wild populations than in managed. Third, for the wild, Apis mellifera being the effective pollinators; for the managed, Megachile (Amegachile) kagiana were found to be the most frequent flower visitor. Finally, the pollen ovule rate was 352.3±62.7. We found that out-crossing is dominant in both populations and that selfpollination just played an assistant role to assure production in the breeding system, an informative characteristic that can be used in future reproductive analyses of the both populations.
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