POLLINATION BIOLOGY AND SPATIO-TEMPORAL STRUCTURING OF SOME MAJOR ACACIA SPECIES (LEGUMINOSAE) OF THE ARABIAN PENINSULA

Journal Article

ANSARI, NURU ADGABA*, AHMED AL-GHAMDI, YILMA TADESSE, AWRARIS GETACHEW AND MOHAMMED J. . 2016

• المجلة \ الصحيفة: Pakistan Journal of Botany
• رقم العدد: 4
• رقم الإصدار السنوي: 48
• الصفحات: 1517-1526

مستخلص المنشور

Acacia form part of the Leguminosae (Fabaceae), the
third-largest family of flowering plants. Legumes are of
significant economic importance, second only to the cereals
(Heywood et al., 2007). Acacias are essentially woody
plants in many tropical and subtropical arid regions of the
world (Ross, 1981), which accounts for their significant
biomass (Wickens, 1995). These plants are an important
sources of firewood, timber, forage, gum, tannins, fiber,
food, folk medicine, and are also useful for environmental
protection as well as soil and water conservation (Wickens,
1995; Midgely & Turnbull, 2003). Acacias sustain a large
number of herbivorous vertebrates and invertebrates as well
as many species of nectarivorous insects.
Many studies have been devoted to Acacia
reproductive biology (Sedegley et al., 1992; Tybirk, 1993;
Kenrick, 2003); floral phenology (Tybirk, 1993; Stone et
al., 1998; Raine, 2001; Tandon et al., 2001), floral rewards
(Stone et al., 1998; Tandon et al., 2001) and visitor
assemblages (Tybirk, 1993; Stone et al., 1998; Raine, 2001;
Kenrick, 2003). Moreover, the intra and inter-specific
competition among various Acacia species for pollinators
has also been investigated (Stone et al., 1998; Raine et al.,
2002).