Costs of reproduction in the pink lady's slipper orchid (Cypripedium acaule): Defoliation, increased fruit production, and fire

- Authors: R. B. Primack, S. L. Miao, and K. R. Becker
  
  Date: 1994
  
  Journal: American Journal of Botany
  
  Volume: 81
  
  Number: 9
  
  Pages: 1083-1090
  
  Summary of Methods: Primack et al. determined if a cost of reproduction is apparent when plants have their photosynthetic capacity reduced by experimentally removing 50% or 10% of their leaf area. Plants that had both leaves removed and produced a fruit in 1987 decreased in size in the following 2 years in comparison with other treatment groups. Plants apparently have to be put into severe physiological stress in order for a cost of reproduction to appear the following year. The cost of producing one fruit was a decline of plant size in the following year of 30 cm², which is very similar to the authors previous experiment using a different design. An additional experiment failed to find evidence that pink lady's slipper orchids (Cypripedium acaule) increase their photosynthetic rate to compensate for the loss of leaves or the cost of maturing fruit. The authors concluded that simulated small mammal herbivory reduced the amount of stored plant carbohydrates in pink lady slipper orchids, which then limited the growth, reproduction and survival of these plants.
  
  Article Summary / Main Points: None
  
  Vegetation Types:
  
  MLRA Ecoregions:
  
  Agrovoc Control Words: Riparian zones Rangelands Wildlife
  Article Review Type: Refereed
  
  Article Type: Experimental Research
  
  Keywords: resource use, photosynthetic area, pollination, simulated herbivory, carbohydrate storage, fruit production
  
  Annotation: The first reproductive treatment involved hand-pollination to induce fruit set. The second treatment involved removal of the flower and associated stalk. The third treatment consisted of unmanipulated control plants that did not produce fruit. Leaf removal treatments involved removing both leaves, removing one leaf, and control plants that were not manipulated.

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