Impacts of drought on pollination of Trigonella moabitica (Fabaceae) via bee visitations

Abstract

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of drought stress on the attractivity of Trigonella flowers to worker honey bees, seed set and yield of T. moabitica under semi-arid Mediterranean conditions during the flowering stage. At this stage plants were exposed to one of three water regimes: either well-watered, moderately-watered, and drought stress. Results showed that flowers of well-watered plants attracted more bee flower visitors compared to plants grown under drought stress conditions. Plants grown under drought stress conditions were shorter, had fewer numbers of inflorescences, and fewer flowers per plant compared to well and moderately-watered plants. Furthermore, drought-stressed plants produced lower quantities of viable pollen grains, and lower pod and seed set.

Keywords:

• drought
• honey bees
• pollen
• seed set
• Trigonella moabitica

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the Higher Council for Science and Technology, Agriculture sector, Amman, Jordan, for the financial support. Our sincere appreciation goes to Al-Balqa' Applied University, As-Salt and to Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan, for providing the laboratory facilities.