The mineral content of plant species nectar may influence its attractiveness for its pollinators. I'm looking for an analytic method for studying the mineral content of a nectar sample.
You' better give some descriptions about your data to get any advise on statsitics
I would question firstly whether you could measure mineral concentrations at an appropriate level to distinguish the attractiveness against other parameters. Thinking of field measurements: How variable are the elements likely to be over the course of a season, or a day? Sugar content in nectar varies dramatically diurnally, after rain, feeding and so on, affecting consumer behaviour; mineral nutrients may not show any influence on feeding compared to the response to sugar. Will water status affect the concentration of the elements? Evaporation over the day might increase sugar and minerals as well. Not that this should stop you considering the question, but it is a very complicated one to solve.
I gather there isn't much on mineral nutrition of nectar, although I did find the following papers:
The impact of foliar fertilization on the number of bees (Apoidea) on spring oilseed rape Viik, et al. 2012 ZEMDIRBYSTE-AGRICULTURE Vol: 99: 1 p: 41-46
Bee food: the chemistry and nutritional value of nectar, pollen and mixtures of the two. Nicolson, 2011 AFRICAN ZOOLOGY Vol: 46: 2 p: 197-204
Characterization of Nectar Honeys According to Their Physicochemical Parameters and Mineral Content. Stihi, et al. 2013 REVISTA DE CHIMIE Vol: 64: 9 p: 1000-1003 and
Nectar Minerals as Regulators of Flower Visitation in Stingless Bees and Nectar Hoarding Wasps. Afik, et al. 2014 JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ECOLOGY Vol: 40: 5 p: 476-483.
You could look up some of the methods for honey analysis, which are extremely numerous such as:
Multi-Element Composition of Honey as a Suitable Tool for Its Authenticity Analysis
By: Oroian, et al. 2015 POLISH JOURNAL OF FOOD AND NUTRITION SCIENCES Vol: 65: 2 p: 93-100, or
Optimization of Sample Preparation in the Determination of Minerals and Trace Elements in Honey by ICP-MS. Leme, et al.2014 FOOD ANALYTICAL METHODS Vol 7: 5 p: 1009-1015.
If you have to, you could modify the methods in the attached paper.
It will depend to some extent on what resources you have available to you. What analytical instrument are you able to use/access (AAS, ICPOES or MS)? What elements are you interested in? If you need to digest the samples in acid will that affect other elements (some are volatile in HNO3), while dissolving in water may be sufficient, but you could suffer from matrix effects with the dissolved sugar affecting nebulisation into the ICP.
I'd suggest consulting a statistician and an analytical chemist before spending valuable observation time.
Article A cost-effective acid digestion method using closed polyprop...
Thank you Matthew for your detailed answer. I'm dealing with avocado cultivars' flower attractiveness for honeybees. I found the avocado nectar to be not attractive, comparing to competing wild and domestic flowers (Ish-Am G., Eisikowitch D. (1998): Low attractiveness of avocado (Persea americana Mill.) flowers to honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) limits fruit set in Israel. J. Hort. Sci. 73:195-204). Later it was found that the (maim) reason for that is the high mineral content of the avocado nectar, mainly potassium and phosphorus. I also found significant differences among avocado cultivars regarding their attractiveness. Now I want to study the reasons for these differences. Obviously the nectar mineral contents should be under examination, among other nectar properties. I assume I should digest the nectar samples for the mineral analysis. I'll check the papers you've quoted.
- Badges
- Science method