Pollinators and fire in Agulhas National Park - Carly Cowell Pollination is required by approximately two-thirds of the world's food plants and almost 80% of the world's flowering plants. Pollination is a major tool for plants to adapt to changing environmental conditions by maintaining genetic variability and constantly evolving to meet environmental stressors. Pollinators can visit flowers in search of food, shelter and/or a potential mate. The partnership between plant and pollinator has evolved over millennia, both having adapted to environmental elements such as fire. Fynbos is a fire driven system and the plant species found here have adapted to fires, similarly the pollinators of Fynbos have adapted too.    When a fire event takes place many of the pollinators retreat to nearby unburnt vegetation. Their population numbers suffer a setback and, as is the case with the plant species, it takes time for them to return to numbers seen before the fire. The re-colonization of pollinators into burn Fynbos occurs over time, and research has shown that the larger the area burnt the long it takes for the pollinators to move into the area. Smaller patches of burn veld are populated faster due to the smaller distances travelled between burnt and unburnt vegetation. This is why seed banks stored in the soil are important for the plants as it provides them with new generations and time for the pollinators to return. Fynbos has a large number of small mammals and insects which act as pollinators. There are over 20 rodent species alone, some of the proteaceae species have adapted to pollination by rodents and have flower heads at ground level. These small mammals are not killed by fire as they survive by burrowing under the ground or hiding under rocks. The nocturnal species either remain or are the first to return as they feed on the seeds released by the fire. The diurnal species, however, move away from the burnt areas until the vegetation has grown sufficiently to provide them with protective cover against birds of prey. This is true for the bird species too, as they require protection and nesting sites from the new plant growth. Sugarbirds and sunbirds are seen most frequently around the flowers of Protea, Leucospermum, Mimetes and Erica, from which they can feed, nest in and hide in too. They rarely visit other species but have been known to pollinate some bulbs, possibly those that offer the greatest nectar rewards.  A few Leucadendrons and Ericas are wind pollinated. What pollinates the majority of Leucadendrons is a bit of a mystery and research is currently being undertaken to assess the pollination mechanisms of Leucadendrons. Many of the smaller genera within Fynbos are pollinated by bees, beetles and moths, all of which slowly return after fire. The pollinators will return to the burnt areas at Agulhas, many of them are there already but can only be seen at night and others are biding their time in safe unburnt veld for the moment.    The interest in pollinators shown at Agulhas National Park has sparked research into the pollinators of Fynbos and their role in flowering times, successful seeding, the successful regeneration of plant populations and spread of plant populations. The results of this will help to guide conservation management by providing information on the role of pollination in the maintenance of biodiversity, and guidelines for the conservation of     Carly R Cowell Regional Ecologist*: Cape Research Center SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL PARKS PO Box 216, Steenberg 7947 South Africa   CarlyC@sanparks.org    Bibliography FORTUNA, M. A. and J. BASCOMPTE. 2006. Habitat loss and the structure of plant-animal mutualistic networks. Ecology Letters 9:278-283. GEERTS, S. and A. PAUW. 2009. African sunbirds hover to pollinate an invasive hummingbird-pollinated plant. Oikos 118:573-579. GEERTS, S. and A. PAUW. 2010. An easy technique for assessing pollination rates in the genus Erica reveals road impact on bird pollination in the Cape Fynbos, South Africa. Austral Ecology In Press. KEARNS, C. A., D. W. INOUYE, and N. M. WASER. 1998. Endangered mutualisms: the conservation of plant-pollinator interactions. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 29:83-112. LENTIC, M. and DICKMAN, C. R. 2005. The responses of small mammals to patches regenerating after fire and rainfall in the Simpson Desert, Central Australia. Austral Ecology 30: 24-39. MEMMOTT, J., P. G. CRAZE, N. M. WASER, and M. V. PRICE. 2007. Global warming and the disruption of plant–pollinator interactions. Ecology Letters 10:710–717. PAUW, A. 2007. Collapse of a pollination web in small conservation areas. Ecology 88:1759-1769.