46 NCEA Style Question: Interspecific Relationships

1. Rhabdothamnus solandri (taurepo) is the sole member of the plant family Gesneriaceae and is native to New Zealand. The shrub grows to about two metres tall and produces red and yellow trumpet shaped flowers. About 8% New Zealand's plants are bird pollinated.

R. solandri's flowers are pollinated by tuis, bellbirds, and stitchbirds, with bellbirds and stitchbirds being the key pollinators.

Research has found that on the North Island mainland, pollination of flowers (and hence seed production) has declined as bellbird and stitchbird populations have declined. On offshore island sanctuaries where bird pollinators are still present in large numbers, pollination of the flowers is still high.

Discuss the relationship between R. solandri and its pollinators (bellbirds and stitchbirds) and why populations of R. solandri are in decline.

In your answer you should: • Describe the interspecific relationship between the pollinators and R. solandri and the advantage of this relationship to the species involved. • Explain why the decline in R. solandri populations is linked to declines in bird populations. • Justify why efforts to reestablish locally extinct bird populations in the North Island could have larger ecological effects than just the return of the birds to the environment.

Rhabdothamnus solandri