Abstract
1. Interest in pollen-borne gene dispersal has grown with the cultivation of genetically modified plants. To date, both experimental data and models of oilseed rape (OSR) Brassica napus pollen movement at the landscape scale do not clearly differentiate between wind- and insect-mediated dispersal. Estimations of insect-mediated gene dispersal would be valuable for managing potential escapes of transgenes. 2. To quantify the intensity and spatial scale of pollen dispersal by insect pollinators in an agricultural landscape, bait points made of flowering male-sterile OSR that attract OSR pollinators were located at six distances (10–1100 m) from the closest OSR fields and feral populations. Flower-visiting insects were caught by net on these male-sterile flowers and were rubbed onto the stigmas of male-sterile OSR plants grown in a pollen-proof greenhouse to do a manual pollination of their flowers. In this way we were able to assess the insects’ OSR pollen load and seed production at each of the six distances. 3. A large diversity of insects carried OSR pollen and contributed to seed production, but not pollen beetles Meligethes aeneus. Logistic regression analyses of the seed-set success from the manual pollination demonstrated that seed set significantly increased with the proximity of OSR fields, the size of the pollinating insect, and the main daily temperature. Seed set was not affected by the pollinating insect’s order or genus. Seed set, both observed and predicted by the model, was above zero for flowers pollinated with large bees caught at >1100 m from the nearest OSR field. 4. Synthesis and applications. Our study provides clear evidence that a large variety of insect species can transfer viable pollen between OSR plants over considerable distances. However, only 39·4% of the insects caught on male-sterile flowers carried OSR pollen. Our results provide valuable data to improve models of pollen dispersal for entomophilous crops at the landscape scale. These models are essential to help land-managers reduce pollen-borne gene dispersal from genetically modified plants to wild and cultivated relatives.
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Claims 8
Claim · model-written summary
A large diversity of insects carried oilseed rape pollen and contributed to seed production.
- Taxon
- oilseed rape
_Brassica_napus_-_Habit.jpg?width=60)
Brassica napust0 - Interactor
- A large diversity of insectse0pollinator
- Outcome
- carried OSR pollen and contributed to seed productione0
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
_Brassica_napus_-_Habit.jpg?width=500)
Verbatim
t0“oilseed rape”
e0“A large diversity of insects carried OSR pollen and contributed to seed production”
Claim · model-written summary
Pollen beetles Meligethes aeneus did not contribute to oilseed rape seed production.
- Taxon
- oilseed rapeBrassica napust0
- Interactor
- pollen beetles Meligethes aeneus
_(3710884154).jpg?width=60)
Brassicogethes aeneuse0other - Outcome
- contributed to seed productione0
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
_(3710884154).jpg?width=500)
Verbatim
t0“oilseed rape”
e0“A large diversity of insects carried OSR pollen and contributed to seed production, but not pollen beetles Meligethes aeneus”
Claim · model-written summary
Oilseed rape seed set significantly increased with proximity of OSR fields.
- Taxon
- oilseed rapeBrassica napust0
- Treatment
- proximity of OSR fieldse0
- Outcome
- seed sete0
- Direction
- increasede0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“oilseed rape”
e0“seed set significantly increased with the proximity of OSR fields”
Claim · model-written summary
Oilseed rape seed set significantly increased with the size of the pollinating insect.
- Taxon
- oilseed rapeBrassica napust0
- Treatment
- size of the pollinating insecte0
- Outcome
- seed sete0
- Direction
- increasede0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“oilseed rape”
e0“seed set significantly increased with the proximity of OSR fields, the size of the pollinating insect”
Claim · model-written summary
Oilseed rape seed set significantly increased with the main daily temperature.
- Taxon
- oilseed rapeBrassica napust0
- Treatment
- main daily temperaturee0
- Outcome
- seed sete0
- Direction
- increasede0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“oilseed rape”
e0“seed set significantly increased with the proximity of OSR fields, the size of the pollinating insect, and the main daily temperature”
Claim · model-written summary
Oilseed rape seed set was not affected by the pollinating insect’s order or genus.
- Taxon
- oilseed rapeBrassica napust0
- Treatment
- pollinating insect’s order or genuse0
- Outcome
- Seed sete0
- Direction
- no_changeinferrede0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“oilseed rape”
e0“Seed set was not affected by the pollinating insect’s order or genus”
Claim · model-written summary
Seed set, both observed and predicted by the model, was above zero for oilseed rape flowers pollinated with large bees caught more than 1100 m from the nearest OSR field.
- Taxon
- oilseed rapeBrassica napust0
- Interactor
- large beese0pollinator
- Outcome
- Seed sete0
- Direction
- above zeroe0
- Value
- >1100 me0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“oilseed rape”
e0“Seed set, both observed and predicted by the model, was above zero for flowers pollinated with large bees caught at >1100 m from the nearest OSR field”
Claim · model-written summary
Only 39.4% of the insects caught on male-sterile flowers carried oilseed rape pollen.
- Taxon
- oilseed rapeBrassica napust0
- Outcome
- carried OSR pollene0
- Value
- 39·4%e0
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“oilseed rape”
e0“only 39·4% of the insects caught on male-sterile flowers carried OSR pollen”