Topic
Ficus obliqua
About: Ficus obliqua is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 3 publications have been published within this topic receiving 77 citations. The topic is also known as: small-leaved fig.
Papers
TL;DR: Fig trees (Moraceae: Ficus) are keystone species, whose ecosystem function relies on an obligate mutualism with wasps that enter fig syconia to pollinate.
Abstract: 1. Fig trees (Moraceae: Ficus) are keystone species, whose ecosystem function relies on an obligate mutualism with wasps (Chalcidoidea: Agaonidae) that enter fig syconia to pollinate. Each female flower produces one seed (fig female reproductive function), unless it also receives a wasp egg, in which case it supports a wasp. Fig male reproductive function requires both male flowers and pollinator offspring, which are the only vectors of fig pollen.
2. The mutualism is exploited by other wasps that lay eggs but provide no pollination service. Most of these non-pollinating fig wasps (NPFWs) do not enter syconia, but lay eggs through the wall with long ovipositors. Some are gall-makers, while others are parasitoids or lethal inquilines of other wasps.
3. Ficus is pan-tropical and contains >750 fig species. However, NPFW communities vary across fig lineages and continents and their effects on the mutualism may also vary. This provides a series of natural experiments to investigate how the costs to a keystone mutualism vary geographically.
4. We made the first detailed study of the costs of NPFWs in a fig (Ficus obliqua G. Forst) from the endemic Australasian section Malvanthera. In contrast to the communities associated with section Americana in the New World, wasps from the subfamily Sycoryctinae (Chalcidoidea: Pteromalidae) dominated this community.
5. These sycoryctine wasps have a negative impact on pollinator offspring numbers, but not on seed production. Consequently, while the NPFW fauna varies greatly at high taxonomic levels across continents, we show that the consistent main effect of locally dominant exploiters of the mutualism is to reduce fig male reproductive function.
38 citations
TL;DR: A revision of the Ficus obliqua—F.
Abstract: A revision of the Ficus obliqua—F. rubiginosa complex (Moraceae: Urostigma sect. Malvanthera Corner) is presented. A phenetic analysis of morphometric characters using clustering techniques and multidimensional scaling was used to identify the taxa in this complex. Three taxa are recognised, F. obliqua G.Forst., F. rubiginosa Desf. ex Vent. f. rubiginosa and F. rubiginosa f. glabrescens (F.M.Bailey) D.J.Dixon. Each taxon is redescribed. The epithet glabrescens of F. rubiginosa f. glabrescens is resurrected with a change in status. The data from the pollinator wasps strongly supports the taxonomy, with F. obliqua pollinated by Pleistodontes greenwoodi (Grandi) and F. rubiginosa sens lat. pollinated by P. imperialis Saunders. A key to the species and infraspecific taxa of F. rubiginosa as well as notes and distribution maps are provided for both species.
33 citations
TL;DR: The pollination biology of Ficus spp.
Abstract: The biogeography and historical distribution of various plants often depend as much on the environmental tolerance of their pollinators as they do on the tolerance of the plant. A four year, phenological study of 35 trees from six Ficus species was carried out in Brisbane's Central Business District. The presence of syconia (figs) and their sexual phases was recorded monthly for each tree. All six species bore 'female' phase syconia randomly in any month. The presence of 'male' phase syconia was seasonal for Ficus benjamina, Ficus microcarpa and Ficus virens. It was less seasonal for Ficus obliqua and Ficus rubiginosa. Ficus macrophylla exhibited aseasonal distribution of 'male' phase syconia. Symbiont pollinator wasp mortality was the cause of the skew in the seasonal distribution of 'male' phase syconia. Ficus benjamina, F. microcarpa and F. virens seldom had 'male' and 'female' phase syconia concurrently on an individual tree, while F. macrophylla and F. obliqua often did. Ficus rubiginosa was intermediate between the two groups. Intra-tree overlap of syconia in both sexual phases permits short dispersal flights by pollinators and is advantageous to their survival during the cooler months. The pollinators of F. benjamina, F. microcarpa and F. virens, historically tropical and tropical/subtropical species, are unlikely to establish in temperate areas due to high winter mortality rates. The other three Ficus species historically occurred in temperate climates and the pollinators of two, F. macrophylla and F. rubiginosa, are extending their range into temperate Australia and New Zealand. The pollination biology of Ficus spp. will thus be a determining factor in whether a species is able to naturalise or become invasive in a location that experiences a particular climate, or if it is safe to use as a horticultural amenity species.
17 citations
Related Topics (5)
Performance Metrics
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2012 | 1 |
| 2005 | 1 |
| 2001 | 1 |