Ginkgo Beyond Borders: How Its Pollen Adapts in Egypt | InformativeBD

Faïbawa Esaïe, Dounia, Fameni Tope Sidonie, Otiobo Atibita Esther Nadine, Tchuenguem Fohouo and Fernand-Nestor, from the institute of Cameroon. wrote a Research Article about, Ginkgo Beyond Borders: How Its Pollen Adapts in Egypt. Entitled, Pollination efficiency of Braunsapis sp. (Hymenoptera: Apidae) on Helianthus annuus L. (Asteraceae) flowers at Dang (Ngaoundéré, Cameroon). This research paper published by the International Journal of Agronomy and Agricultural Research |IJAAR. an open access scholarly research journal on Agronomy. under the affiliation of the International Network For Natural Sciences| INNSpub. an open access multidisciplinary research journal publisher.

Abstract

This research was carried out to evaluate the impact of Braunsapis bees on fruit and seed yields of sunflower in an experimental field from June to July in 2016 and 2017 at Dang. Observations were made on 540 capitula divided in four treatments: two treatments differentiated according to the presence or absence of protection of capitula regarding Braunsapis sp. and other insect visits; the third with capitula protected and uncovered when florets were opened, to allow Braunsapis sp. visits and the fourth with capitula destined to opening and closing without the visit of insects or any other organism. Bee’s daily rhythm of activity, its foraging behavior on flowers and its pollination efficiency were evaluated. Results show that, Braunsapis sp. foraged on H. annuus flowers throughout its whole blooming period. Among 33 insect species recorded on H. annuus capitula, Braunsapis sp. ranked third accounting for 7.63 % all visits, after Apis mellifera (76.06%) and Ceratina sp. (10.79%). On florets, individual bees intensely harvested nectar and slightly collected pollen. The mean duration of a visit per floret was 3.79 sec for nectar harvest visits and 9.94 sec for pollen collection visits. For the two years, through its pollination efficiency on H. annuus, Braunsapis sp. has increased the fruiting rate by 52.67%, the percentage of fruit with seed by 39.50% and the percentage of normal seeds by 73.51%. Hence, conservation of Braunsapis sp. nests close to H. annuus fields is recommended to improve pod and seed production in the region.

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Introduction

Flowers are the reproductive organs of many plant species where seeds are formed (Abrol, 2012). For the cycle to begin, a pollen grain, which is often carried on an insect, comes in contact with the stigma of the flower of the same plant species (Abrol, 2012). Fruits, vegetables or seed production from 87 of the 115 leading global food crops depends upon animal pollination (Klein et al., 2007). The inseparable relation between flowers and bees has led to the coevolution and diversity of species that we currently know (Benachour, 2008).

Helianthus annuus is native of North America (Plant Biosafety Office, 2005). This crop is ideal for cultivation in any season because of its wider adaptability, drought tolerance, short life cycle, photo and thermal insensitivity characteristics (Krishna et al., 2014). It is cultivated primarily for its seeds, which yield the world’s second most important source of edible oil (Plant Biosafety Office, 2005; Dwivedi and Sharma, 2014). The seed oil, shoots, and herb tincture have been employed for anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, diuretic, stimulant and vermifuge purpose (Dwivedi and Sharma, 2014). Florets produce of nectar and pollen and are visited by insects (Vimla et al., 2013). In Kenya, Honeybee pollination increases sunflower seed yield by 30% and oil content by more than 6% (Kasina et al., 2007). They are important flower visitors not only in Kenya (Kasina et al., 2007) but also, in Turkey (Oz et al., 2009), Cameroon (Tchuenguem et al., 2009b), Israël (Pisanty et al., 2013), India (Vimla et al., 2013) and Sudan (Osman and Siham, 2015). Non-Apis bees are also known to visit sunflower and have been reported to improve crop yield by enhancing efficiency of Apis mellifera (De Grandi and Watkins, 2000; Greenleaf and Kremen, 2006).

In Africa in general and in Cameroon in particular, the demand in seed oil of sunflower is very highly whereas its seed yields is weak because notably of the insufficiency of knowledge on the relations between this plant and the anthophilous insects in many agro ecological zones.

Numerous studies to identify pollinating sunflower fauna show that Apis mellifera is the main pollinator of this crop (Kasina et al., 2007; Nderitu et al., 2008; Oz et al., 2009; Vimla et al. 2013; Pysanty et al., 2013; Osman and Siham, 2015). Other Apoids such as bumblebees visit sunflower flowers and participate in their pollination (Lecomté, 1962).

To our knowledge, the data published after detailed studies on the interactions between insects and H. annuus are those of Pham-Delègue et al. (1985) in Bulgaria, Ahmed et al. (1989) in Soudan, Phillipe (1991) in America, Roubik (2000) in Pakistan, Oz et al. (2009) in Turkey, Tchuenguem et al. (2009b) in Ngaoudéré (Cameroon), Vimla et al. (2013) in India, Pisanty et al. (2014) in Israel. In all these investigations, the foraging behavior and pollination activity was carried out in detail only on A. mellifera. The flowering entomofauna and the impact of insects on pollination and fruit and/or seed yields of a plant species may vary with the species of insect, time and space (Michener, 2000; Gallai et al., 2009). Hence there is a need of other studies in the Adamaoua region, to supplement existing data. The general objective of this work is to contribute to the understanding of the relationships between H. annuus and Braunsapis sp., for their optimal management. Specific objectives were to: (a) determine the place of Braunsapis sp. in the H. annuus floral entomofauana; (b) study the activity of this Apidae on florets of this Asteraceae; (c) evaluate the impact of the flowering insects including Braunsapis sp. on pollination and fruit and seed yields of H. annuus; (d) estimate the pollination efficiency of Braunsapis sp. on this plant species.

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Article souirce : Pollination efficiency of Braunsapis sp. (Hymenoptera: Apidae) on Helianthus annuus L. (Asteraceae)flowers at Dang (Ngaoundéré, Cameroon)