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Creators/Authors contains: "Alarcon, Ruben"

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  1. Non-native plant species can disrupt plant–pollinator interactions by altering pollinator foraging behavior, which can in turn affect levels of interspecific pollen transfer between native and nonnative plant species. These processes may be amplified in cases where introduced plant species act as magnet taxa that enhance pollinator visitation to other plant species. We investigated these interactions on Santa Cruz Island (Santa Barbara Co., California) between non-native fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), a widespread and abundant invader, and the endemic Santa Cruz Island buckwheat (Eriogonum arborescens), which broadly overlaps fennel in its local distribution and blooming phenology. A fennel flower removal experiment revealed that this invader acts as a magnet species by increasing insect visitation to adjacent buckwheat flowers. Analysis of the amount of pollen carried on the bodies of insect pollinators (i.e., pollen transport) revealed that 96% of visitors to buckwheat flowers carried fennel pollen and 72% of visitors to fennel flowers carried buckwheat pollen. Pollen transport analyses and visitation rate data further suggest that members of three bee genera (primarily Augochlorella) may be responsible for the majority of fennel pollen deposited on the stigmas of buckwheat flowers (i.e., pollen transfer) and vice versa. Lastly, fennel pollen transport appeared to occur at a larger spatial scale than the magnet effect that fennel plants exert on floral visitors to neighboring buckwheat plants. The ability of fennel to act as a magnet species, coupled with the fact that it is widespread invader with known allelopathic capacities, suggests that future studies could evaluate if the transfer of fennel pollen adversely affects native plant reproduction in areas where fennel is introduced. 
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