Abstract：Camellia gauchowensis Chang is a woody oil crop with great economic and ecological value, but its high degree of inbred incompatibility, cross-pollination and fruiting rely heavily on pollinators. However, systematic research on the pollinator diversity and fruit setting efficiency of C. gauchowensis was lack in Guangdong. In this study, we sampled 4 sites in western, northern, central and eastern Guangdong, to carry out pollination observation and artificial supplementary pollination experiments. A total of 25 species in 4 orders 12 families were record as pollinators of C. gauchowensis in Guangdong, and there were obvious regional differences; the main pollinator at WS (western Guangdong) was the Andrena camellia Wu, XK (northern Guangdong) was Vespa bicolor Fabricius, LD (central Guangdong) and BT (eastern Guangdong) were Apis cerana Fabricius. Pollinator diversity and fruit set, from high to low, were XK > WS >LD > BT. The fruit set of supplemental pollination was higher than that of natural control at all 4 sites, pollen limitation of C. gauchowensis was common. Moreover, the fruits by supplemental pollination had bigger size and more seeds per fruit. The study demonstrated the pollinator diversity and regional differences of C. gauchowensis lands in Guangdong, and explored the effects of pollination on fruit set, providing theoretical basis and data support for the production practice of C. gauchowensis lands in Guangdong.
2023, Vol. 36 
