title: Reproductive biology of an Alpic paleo-endemic in a changing climate.
abstract: Climate change is known to have a profound influence on plant reproduction, mainly because it affects plant/pollinator interactions, sometimes driving plants to extinction. Starting from the Neogene, the European climate was subjected to severe alterations. Nevertheless, several genera, including Berardia, survived these climatic changes. Despite the numerous studies performed about the relationship between climate change and plant reproductive biology, equivalent studies on ancient species are lacking, even though they may furnish crucial information on the strategies that allowed them to survive drastic climatic fluctuations. We investigated floral and reproductive features in Berardia subacaulis (Asteraceae), describing pollen vectors, capitulum and florets phenology, evaluating reproductive efficiency and defining the reproductive mode of the plant with bagging experiments and test of apomixis. B. subacaulis grows in habitats with low pollination services; it is self-compatible, but many typical features favouring cross-pollination are still present: florets are characterized by incomplete protandry, capitulum protogyny and high pollen-ovule ratio. The plant is not apomictic and self-fertilization is allowed within each capitulum. Similarly to other European Alpine endemics supposed to belong to the Mediterranean ancient tropical flora, the reproductive mode observed in the monospecific genus Berardia assured reproduction also under a pollinator decline. Differently from the other endemics, it took advantage of its spontaneous self-pollination and compatibility and its generalist pollination service, common both among high altitude plants and in the Asteraceae.
authors.affiliation: DISTAV, Polo Botanico Hanbury, Università degli Studi di Genova, Corso Dogali 1M, 16136, Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guerrina
authors.affiliation: DISTAV, Polo Botanico Hanbury, Università degli Studi di Genova, Corso Dogali 1M, 16136, Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Gabriele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Casazza
authors.affiliation: Institute of Systematic Botany, Botanic Garden, University of Zurich, Zollikerstrasse 107, 8008, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Conti
authors.affiliation: DISTAV, Polo Botanico Hanbury, Università degli Studi di Genova, Corso Dogali 1M, 16136, Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Carmelo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Macrì
authors.affiliation: DISTAV, Polo Botanico Hanbury, Università degli Studi di Genova, Corso Dogali 1M, 16136, Genoa, Italy. minuto@dipteris.unige.it.
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Minuto
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019659:Asteraceae / Q000502:physiology*; D057231:Climate Change; D017753:Ecosystem; D005638:Fruit / Q000254:growth & development; D007313:Insecta; D011058:Pollen / Q000502:physiology; D012098:Reproduction
keywords: Asteraceae; Berardia subacaulis Vill.; Paleo-endemic plant species; Pollen vectors; Reproductive strategy