Patterns of pollen and resource limitation of fruit production in Vaccinium uliginosum and V. vitis-idaea in Interior Alaska

PLoS One. 2020 Aug 19;15(8):e0224056. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0224056. eCollection 2020.

Abstract

Many recent studies assessing fruit productivity of plants in the boreal forest focus on interannual variability across a forested region, rather than on environmental variability within the forest. Frequency and severity of wildfires in the boreal forest affect soil moisture, canopy, and community structure at the landscape level, all of which may influence overall fruit production at a site directly or indirectly. We evaluated how fruit production in two boreal shrubs, Vaccinium uliginosum (blueberry) and V. vitis-idaea (lingonberry), was explained by factors associated with resource availability (such as canopy cover and soil conditions) and pollen limitation (such as floral resources for pollinators and pollen deposition) across boreal forest sites of Interior Alaska in 2017. We classified our study sites into upland and lowland sites, which differed in elevation, soil moisture, and active layer. We found that resource and pollen limitation differed between the two species and between uplands and lowlands. Lingonberry was more pollen limited than blueberry, and plants in lowland sites were more pollen limited relative to other sites while plants in upland sites were relatively more resource limited. Additionally, canopy cover had a significant negative effect in upland sites on a ramet's investment in reproductive tissues and leaves versus structural growth, but little effect in lowland sites. These results point to importance of including pollinator service as well as resource availability in predictions for changes in berry abundance.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Alaska
  • Blueberry Plants / metabolism*
  • Conservation of Natural Resources
  • Forests
  • Fruit / chemistry
  • Fruit / metabolism*
  • Pollen / chemistry
  • Pollen / metabolism
  • Pollination
  • Reproduction
  • Taiga
  • Vaccinium vitis-idaea / metabolism*

Grants and funding

Funding was provided by the Bonanza Creek LTER (NSF grant no. DEB-1636476). The Bonanza Creek LTER is a member of the U.S. LTER Network which is supported by the National Science Foundation and the USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.