Dillenia (Dilleniaceae) pollen heteromorphy and presentation, and implications for pollination by bats.

Bat pollination of Dillenia in Fiji, a genus that was presumed to be pollinated by bees, posits that other Dillenia species may be bat-pollinated, with implications for conservation and the understanding of angiosperm evolution. Botanical descriptions of some corolla behaviours ('falling as a whole') suggest bat removal of permanently closed corollas, as in D. biflora. Considering the remoteness of species of interest, we reviewed some Dillenia floral traits to hypothesise what they may mean for bat pollination of the genus. We investigated D. biflora pollen grains apertures and reviewed Dillenia literature concerning corolla behaviour and colour, and pollen apertures and presentation, including pores and staminodes. Our samples had dramatically different ratios of tricolpate to tetracolpate pollen grains, a trait that does not exclude pollination by bees. Petal colour polymorphism occurs, with mixed colours proportionately less common in flowers with corollas that open. The proportion of species with staminodes did not differ between those presumed to be pollinated by bats and others, but anthers of the former were significantly more likely to have apical pores, and stamens all had similar length or were slightly longer in the middle, whereas stamens in two distinct groups occurred in 55% of bee-pollinated species. Pollen heteromorphy may facilitate pollination by different taxa in tropical environments. However, anther apical pores and stamen uniformity are more likely to be associated with bat-pollinated species than are other morphologies. Dillenia could be a useful model to examine evolutionary aspects of colour, heteranthery, staminodes and pollen heteromorphy. Only field work will verify bat pollination and the implications of bat dependence for Dillenia species.

A novel bat pollination system involving obligate flower corolla removal has implications for global Dillenia conservation.

The Dilleniaceae is known to produce nectarless flowers pollinated by bees, but the fact that bats ingest Dillenia biflora pollen led us to question pollination assumptions for these trees. We aimed to identify the pollinators of D. biflora, check for nectar presence, and investigate potential for cleistogamy and global prevalence of this pollination system. We examined aspects of the pollination of D. biflora on two Fijian islands using video recordings, direct observations, hand pollination, measurements (flowers, bite marks, nectar), and monitoring. The flowers, receptive for one night, contained copious nectar and had permanently closed globose corollas that required removal by bats for pollination. All the 101 flowers that retained their corolla died and did not produce seeds by cleistogamy. The bat Notopteris macdonaldi was well adapted to corolla removal. Keeping corollas closed until bats manipulate the nectar-rich flowers is a beneficial strategy in high-rainfall environments with many flower parasites. We propose to name a pollination system reliant exclusively on bats "chiropteropisteusis." From clues in the literature, other species in the geographical range of Dillenia are probably chiropteropisunous. Chiropteropisteusis should be investigated in the Old-World range of Dillenia, many species of which are threatened. The remarkable "fall" of the entire corolla observed by an earlier botanist for several species in the genus is most likely attributable to bats. This discovery has important implications for the conservation of bat-dependent trees and their associated fauna, particularly considering the high level of threat faced by flying-foxes globally.

Interrogating Phylogenetic Discordance Resolves Deep Splits in the Rapid Radiation of Old World Fruit Bats (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae).

The family Pteropodidae (Old World fruit bats) comprises $>$200 species distributed across the Old World tropics and subtropics. Most pteropodids feed on fruit, suggesting an early origin of frugivory, although several lineages have shifted to nectar-based diets. Pteropodids are of exceptional conservation concern with $>$50% of species considered threatened, yet the systematics of this group has long been debated, with uncertainty surrounding early splits attributed to an ancient rapid diversification. Resolving the relationships among the main pteropodid lineages is essential if we are to fully understand their evolutionary distinctiveness, and the extent to which these bats have transitioned to nectar-feeding. Here we generated orthologous sequences for $>$1400 nuclear protein-coding genes (2.8 million base pairs) across 114 species from 43 genera of Old World fruit bats (57% and 96% of extant species- and genus-level diversity, respectively), and combined phylogenomic inference with filtering by information content to resolve systematic relationships among the major lineages. Concatenation and coalescent-based methods recovered three distinct backbone topologies that were not able to be reconciled by filtering via phylogenetic information content. Concordance analysis and gene genealogy interrogation show that one topology is consistently the best supported, and that observed phylogenetic conflicts arise from both gene tree error and deep incomplete lineage sorting. In addition to resolving long-standing inconsistencies in the reported relationships among major lineages, we show that Old World fruit bats have likely undergone at least seven independent dietary transitions from frugivory to nectarivory. Finally, we use this phylogeny to identify and describe one new genus. [Chiroptera; coalescence; concordance; incomplete lineage sorting; nectar feeder; species tree; target enrichment.].

Response of primary and secondary rainforest flowers and fruits to a cyclone, and implications for plant-servicing bats.

The response of primary (PF) and secondary (SF) rainforests to cyclones has broad implications for servicing fauna and the resilience of forest functions. We collected fine-scale data on the reproductive phenology of plant communities in Fijian PF and SF in 12 monthly surveys before and after Cyclone Tomas (2010). We generated a resource index from the reproductive loads of 2218 trees and 1150 non-trees (>190 species) and trunk and stem diameter to assess patterns in resource abundance for nectarivores and frugivores (hereafter NF resources). We aimed to determine (i) whether species richness of NF resources differed between forests; (ii) the patterns of resilience of NF resources at community level in both forests after a cyclone; and (iii) the effect of response on NF resources for plant-servicing bats (Pteropodidae). In 12 months preceding the cyclone, NF resources were greater in PF trees; non-tree resources fluctuated and were greater in SF. Lower species richness of NF resources in SF indicated that fewer opportunities exist there for exploitation by a diverse fauna. More resources were available for bats in PF. In 12 months following the cyclone, PF flowers and fruits, and SF fruits specifically used by pteropodid bats decreased for trees. Non-tree resources were especially susceptible to the cyclone. No universal pattern of decline was associated with the cyclone; instead, some NF resources declined and others were resilient or responded rapidly to a post-cyclone environment. Both PF and SF demonstrated resilience at the community level via increased flower survival (PF) and rapid flower production (SF). Reduced species richness of NF resources in SF will compromise future resilience and response to disturbance, including for threatened pteropodid bat species. These findings are critical for long-term management of forests, given predicted increases in cyclone frequency and intensity associated with anthropogenic climate change.