Journal of Ecosystem & Ecography
Open Access

Research Article

Floral Biology of Rhipsalis paradoxa (Cactaceae: Cactoideae) in Semideciduous Mesophyll Forest (Atlantic Forest) at Serra do Japi, Jundiaí-SP.

Hipólito Ferreira Paulino-Neto^*

1. Professor Pesquisador do Curso de Ciências Biológicas e responsável pelo Laboratório de Ecologia da Polinização, Evolução e Conservação (LEPEC) da Universidade do Estado de Minas Gerais (UEMG), Brasil.

*Corresponding Author:

Paulino-Neto HF
Professor Pesquisador do Curso de Ciências Biológicas e responsável pelo
Laboratório de Ecologia da Polinização, Evolução e Conservação (LEPEC) da Universidade do Estado de Minas Gerais (UEMG), Brasil
Tel: (035) 35296058
E-mail: hipolitopaulino@gmail.com

Received date: December 22, 2016; Accepyed date: December 26, 2016; Published date: December 30, 2016

Citation: Paulino-Neto HF (2016) Floral Biology of Rhipsalis paradoxa (Cactaceae: Cactoideae) in Atlantic Mesóflia Semidecidua, Serra do Japi, Jundiai–SP. J Ecosys Ecograph 6:221. doi:10.4172/2157-7625.1000221

Copyright: © 2016 Paulino-Neto HF. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

The aim of this study was to investigate the floral biology and to determine the main floral visitors and potential pollinators of Rhipsalis paradoxa (Cactaceae). This study was conducted in an Environmental Protection Area in the Serra do Japi, Jundiaí-SP. The R. paradoxa flowering season comprehended the months of September and October of 2001. The principal floral visitors were Apis melifera, Billbergia brasiliensis, Melipona quadrifasciata, Melipona bicolor and Trigona sp., all these bees belonging to Apidae family, thus this species consists in a melittophilous cactus. All floral visitors are potential pollinators. B. brasiliensis was considered the main pollinator, since it is a very common species, displays legitimate visits and promotes xenogamy when they move between distant individuals in the population. A. mellifera, M. bicolor and M. quadrifasciata are secondary pollinators, presenting lower visitation rates and short distance flights, promoting mainly self-pollinations and low gene flow within the population of R. paradoxa. Trigona sp., was the most common species and remained longer time in the flowers, however, this bee visited essentially flowers within the same plant favoring basically the geitonogamy, for this reason was considered only as a secondary pollinator. The conservation of the main pollinators of R. paradoxa is crucial for conservation of this cactus species that depend exclusively on bee pollination for its reproductive success.

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