Abstract
The floral phenology, fruit and seed production, and self-compatibility of Werauhia gladioliflora, an epiphytic bromeliad with a wide distribution, were studied in a premontane forest
in the Monteverde area in Costa Rica. The species presents the pollination syndrome
of chiropterophily, and it is visited by the small bats Hylonycteris underwoodi and Glossophaga commissarisi (Glossophaginae). The population flowering period extended from October to early
December (end of rainy season) and seed dispersal occurred from February to April
(dry season). Most plants opened a single flower per night, either every day or at
one-day intervals during the flowering period. In natural conditions, the average
fruit set amounted to almost half of the potential output, but individual fecundity
(number of seeds) remained high. Seed number per fruit and germination capacity after
artificial selfing and out-crossing treatments did not differ from natural pollination
conditions. Werauhia gladioliflora exhibited high levels of autonomous self-pollination and self-compatibility at the
individual and population level, characters associated with the epiphytic habitat.
These reproductive traits are also associated with early colonizer species, yet life
history traits, such as seed dispersal, seedling establishment success, and growth,
are likely to have a major role in determining the presence of this species in the
successional vegetation patches scattered over the studied premontane area.
Key words
Autonomous selfing - Costa Rica - chiropterophily - Monteverde - pollination - self-compatibility.
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A. Cascante-Marín
Departamento de Historia Natural
Museo Nacional de Costa Rica
Apdo. 749
1000 San José
Costa Rica
eMail: cascante@science.uva.nl
Editor: F. R. Scarano