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. 2018 Feb 18;8(6):3161-3171.
doi: 10.1002/ece3.3851. eCollection 2018 Mar.

An analysis of the energetic reward offered by field bean (Vicia faba) flowers: Nectar, pollen, and operative force

Emily J Bailes  1   2   3 , Jonathan G Pattrick  2   4 , Beverley J Glover  2
Affiliations

An analysis of the energetic reward offered by field bean (Vicia faba) flowers: Nectar, pollen, and operative force

Emily J Bailes et al. Ecol Evol. .

Abstract

Global consumption of crops with a yield that is dependent on animal pollinators is growing, with greater areas planted each year. However, the floral traits that influence pollinator visitation are not usually the focus of breeding programmes, and therefore, it is likely that yield improvements may be made by optimizing floral traits to enhance pollinator visitation rates. We investigated the variation present in the floral reward of the bee-pollinated crop Vicia faba (field bean). We examined the genetic potential for breeding flowers with a greater reward into current commercial varieties and used bee behavioral experiments to gain insight into the optimal nectar concentration to maximize bee preference. There was a large range of variation in the amount of pollen and nectar reward of flowers in the genotypes investigated. Bee behavioral experiments using nectar sugar concentrations found in V. faba lines suggest that Bombus terrestris prefers 55% w/w sugar solution over 40% w/w, but has no preference between 55% w/w and 68% w/w sugar solution. We provide a first indication of the force required to open V. faba flowers. Our results provide a valuable starting point toward breeding for varieties with optimized floral reward. Field studies are now needed to verify whether the genetic potential for breeding more rewarding flowers can translate into higher yield and yield stability.

Keywords: Bombus terrestris; broad bean; bumblebee; faba bean; opening force; operative strength; plant breeding; pollination; sugar concentration preference.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A bumblebee visiting a field bean (V. faba) flower
Figure 2
Figure 2
The average pollen production of V. faba lines (grains per flower). Data are means with 95% confidence intervals (n = 5–8). The pollen production of flowers is significantly different between lines (F 27,140 = 6.23, p < .0001)
Figure 3
Figure 3
The nectar production of V. faba flowers between lines (predicted means with 95% confidence intervals). (a) The back‐transformed volume of nectar produced (μl) per flower. Line was a significant predictor of Ln(nectar volume + 0.28) (likelihood ratio = 361, p < .0001) (b) The sugar concentration of nectar (% w/w). Line was a significant predictor of nectar concentration (likelihood ratio = 219, p < .0001). (c) The back‐transformed total amount of sugar produced per flower (mg sucrose equivalents). Line was a significant predictor of √(sugar mass (mg) + 0.1) of a flower (likelihood ratio = 334, p < .0001). The concentration (% w/w) and sugar mass (mg) of nectar could not be determined for lines NV658 and NV155
Figure 4
Figure 4
The preference of B. terrestris for V. faba relevant nectar sugar concentrations. The average preference for the higher concentration of sugar solution of ten foragers for 40% versus 55% sugar solution or 55% versus 68% w/w sugar solution as they learned to associate these rewards with color stimuli. Choices are averaged over 10 successive choices for each bee. There was a significant preference for 55% over 40% w/w sugar (χ2(1) = 132.53, p < .0001) but not between 68% and 55% w/w sugar (χ2(1) = 0.78, p = .38)
Figure 5
Figure 5
The relationship between pollen production (grains/flower) and various measures of nectar production in V. faba lines. Each point represents an individual V. faba line mean (from Figures 2 and 3). (a) The relationship with nectar volume produced by a flower (μl). Nectar volume is ln transformed (n = 28, R 2 = .14, t = 2.04, p = .052). (b) The relationship with nectar sugar concentration (% w/w) (n = 26, R 2 = .11, t = 2.62, p = .096). (c) The relationship with the sugar mass (mg) produced by a flower. Sugar mass is square root transformed (n = 26, R 2 = .22, t = 2.61, p = .015)
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