Plant-pollinator interactions along the pathway to paternity

The ecology of polyploid establishment and exclusion, with implications for polyploid biogeography

The relationship between polyploid formation, triploid fitness and plant reproduction has been studied for over a century, and uniparental reproduction has long been recognized to play a crucial role in polyploid establishment. Yet, we lack a synthesized framework of how polyploid establishment is expected to be influenced by different reproductive modes among angiosperms. Here, we provide new perspectives on how uniparental reproduction, pollination ecology, triploid fitness and assortative mating can impact minority cytotype exclusion (MCE) and, thereby, the likelihood of polyploid establishment. We review the current state of knowledge of the reproductive mechanisms that impact polyploid establishment and discuss often overlooked aspects of these processes, such as the influence of pollinator communities on rates of self-pollination. We propose a framework for considering how variation in reproductive strategies and pollinator communities can impact the ability of a polyploid to overcome MCE. Finally, we propose links between patterns of variation in uniparental reproduction across plant communities and observed patterns in the distribution and abundance of polyploids.

Floral trait dissimilarity indirectly decreases heterospecific pollen transfer through pollinator sharing in a subalpine meadow

Co-flowering species are suggested to exhibit divergent floral traits to minimize interspecific competition. However, few studies have evaluated whether and by which pathways floral trait dissimilarity affects interspecific pollen transfer among co-flowering species, which limits our understanding of the interplay between mutualistic and competitive interactions within plant-pollinator networks. We conducted a three-year field investigation from 2021 to 2023 in a sub-alpine meadow in southwest China. We observed plant-pollinator interactions and identified pollen grains on the stigmas of co-flowering species to construct plant-pollinator visitation networks and heterospecific pollen transfer (HPT) networks. We also measured 18 floral traits across 44 co-flowering species, categorizing these traits into attractant traits (flower color spectra, corolla morphology) and reproductive traits (male and female organs). By calculating the dissimilarities in each floral trait category between species pairs, we conducted structural equation modeling to link the dissimilarities in floral traits between species pairs with pollinator sharing and HPT. Our results demonstrated that dissimilarities in flower color and corolla morphology significantly reduced pollinator sharing, and indirectly decreased HPT. Conversely, the dissimilarities in male and female-organ traits did not have a significant impact on HPT or pollinator sharing. Our findings support the theory that divergent floral traits help reduce interspecific competition, highlighting the adaptive significance of floral trait divergence in plant-pollinator interactions.

Plant-pollinator trait matching affects pollen transfer but not feeding efficiency of Australian honeyeaters (Aves, Meliphagidae)

Animal pollination is common among flowering plants. Increased morphological matching between floral and pollinator traits is thought to increase pollen transfer and feeding efficiency, but we lack studies that empirically demonstrate this. Working with Australian honeyeaters, we find that there is positive correlation between bill-corolla matching and pollen deposition at flowers, but no correlation with how efficiently birds can extract floral nectar. The species with the lowest bill-corolla matching deposited the fewest pollen grains but had the highest feeding efficiency, showing that bill-corolla matching expectations were met on the plant side of this interaction but not on the pollinator side. Finally, we find different interspecific patterns of pollen deposition at the scales of a single flower visit versus the landscape, due to differences in patterns of plant visitation. This work illustrates the need for more studies that directly correlate trait matching to fitness proxies of plants and avian pollinators.

Quantitative nectar spur length governs nonrandom mating in a bee-pollinated Aquilegia species

Mating patterns in angiosperms are typically nonrandom, yet the mechanisms driving nonrandom mating remain unclear, especially regarding the effects of quantitative floral traits on plant mating success across male and female functions. In this study, we investigated how variation in spur length and flower number per plant influences mating patterns in Aquilegia rockii within a natural population. Using marker-based paternity analyses and manipulative experiments, we assessed the role of these traits in mating success across both sexual functions. We found significant variation in the mate composition between male and female function, with spur-length frequency positively associated with female outcrossing rate and mate number, but not with male outcrossing or mate number. Most mating events occurred within 10 m, and spur-length frequency positively correlated with mating distance. Regardless of selfing, there was evidence for assortative mating for spur length. Although spur length did not correlate with pollinator visitation, plants with mid-length spurs had higher seed set than those with shorter or longer spurs when autonomous selfing was excluded. Flowers number per plant was only associated with mating distance and female outcrossing rate. Our results suggest that spur length plays a key role in nonrandom mating by frequency-dependent mating, with implications for stabilizing selection and maintenance of genetic diversity. This study advances our understanding of floral diversity by dissecting the role of quantitative floral traits in plant mating through both female and male functions.

Anthropogenic land-use change decreases pollination and male and female fitness in terrestrial flowering plants

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

The majority of the Earth's land area is currently occupied by humans. Measuring how terrestrial plants reproduce in these pervasive environments is essential for understanding their long-term viability and their ability to adapt to changing environments.

METHODS

We conducted hierarchical and phylogenetically independent meta-analyses to assess the overall effects of anthropogenic land-use changes on pollination, and male and female fitness in terrestrial plants.

KEY RESULTS

We found negative global effects of land-use change (i.e. mainly habitat loss and fragmentation) on pollination and on female and male fitness of terrestrial flowering plants. Negative effects were stronger in plants with self-incompatibility systems and in plants pollinated by invertebrates, regardless of life form and sexual expression. Pollination and female fitness of pollination-generalist and pollination-specialist plants were similarly negatively affected by land-use change, whereas male fitness of specialist plants showed no effects.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings indicate that angiosperm populations remaining in fragmented habitats negatively affect pollination, and female and male fitness, which will probably decrease the recruitment, survival and long-term viability of plant populations remaining in fragmented landscapes. We underline the main current gaps of knowledge for future research agendas and call not only for a decrease in the current rates of land-use changes across the world but also to embark on active restoration efforts to increase the area and connectivity of remaining natural habitats.

Interannual differences in pollinator contributions to pollen transfer are mainly driven by changes in pollinator abundance

With the rising threat to insect pollinators and the upcoming pollinator crisis, it is important to know how pollinators contribute to pollen transfer. The contributions of individual pollinator taxa to pollen transfer depend both on their abundance and on how much pollen each individual can carry, with overall importance being a multiplication of these two values. Here, we quantified pollen load across a diverse spectrum of insect pollinator taxa and variation in their abundance over 11 years. We found that, while variation in pollen load was relatively small among pollinator taxa (compared to relatively high variability among individuals within each insect taxon), the visitation levels changed significantly over the years, resulting in a high degree of variation in pollinator contributions to pollen transfer of each insect taxon at the community level. Thus, we conclude that the overall importance of pollinator taxa for pollen transfer is determined further by their abundances than by their taxon-specific capability for carrying various pollen loads. As the insect abundances vary over time and may change dramatically from year to year, our results highlight the importance of diverse and species-rich pollinator communities, as the population decline of one pollinator can be buffered by an increase in another pollinator taxa.

Local and landscape factors differently influence health and pollination services in two important pollinator groups

Agricultural management significantly affects insects, especially pollinators, which are crucial for crop pollination and biodiversity. In agricultural landscapes, various factors spanning different spatial scales are known to affect pollinator health, which, in turn, can influence pollination services. However, the importance of these factors in driving the health and performance of different pollinator groups remains unclear. Using a long-term biodiversity research platform, the German Biodiversity Exploratories, we investigated links between local and landscape-level land-use, health and pollination services in common pollinators, the bumblebee Bombus lapidarius and the syrphid fly Episyrphus balteatus, by measuring various traits as proxies for pollinator health and pollination services. Because of their different life histories, we expected the territorial bumblebees to be more vulnerable to land-use intensification at both spatial levels, compared with the migratory syrphid flies. Both land-use and environmental factors (climate) across spatial scales affected pollinator health, mostly via changes in body size: High land-use intensity reduced bumblebee body size, whereas higher ambient air temperature decreased syrphid fly body size. Increasing proportions of intensively managed areas at the landscape level decreased viral infections in both species. Additionally, landscape-level land-use and climate changed the bumblebees cuticular chemical profile, which is essential for communication in these social insects. Increasing land-use intensity at the local level and higher proportions of intensive land-use at the landscape level both had an indirect negative effect on pollination services in bumblebees via local flower cover and body size. Pollination services in both species were linked to body size. Thus, land-use factors affect pollinator health differently: bumblebees are more vulnerable to local and landscape-level land-use intensification, while syrphid flies are more resilient potentially due to their higher mobility. As pollinator health affects pollination services, our results indicate that land-use intensification poses a high risk to crops pollinated by species with small home ranges.

Pollen Wars: Explosive Pollination Removes Pollen Deposited from Previously Visited Flowers

AbstractPollen grains from different plants potentially compete for ovule access because flowers produce many more pollen grains than ovules. Pollen competition could occur on pollinators, where there is finite space for pollen placement. Here, we explore the explosive pollen deposition in Hypenia macrantha (Lamiaceae, a perennial flowering plant native to South America that is frequently visited by hummingbirds) and determine whether it can improve male performance by reducing pollen loads deposited by previously visited flowers. Through the simulation of floral visits utilizing a hummingbird skull, we showed that explosive pollen deposition by untriggered flowers dislodges almost twice as many pollen grains as already-triggered flowers. In addition, pollen removal increases with the amount of deposited pollen by the floral explosion, suggesting that the precision or the explosive force of pollen deposition plays a pivotal role in this pollen removal process. These results suggest that explosive pollen placement, a mechanism that has evolved in many unrelated angiosperm clades, may confer a prepollination male competition advantage to plants.

Linking divergence in phenotypic selection on floral traits to divergence in local pollinator assemblages in a pollination-generalized plant

Divergent patterns of phenotypic selection on floral traits can arise in response to interactions with functionally distinct pollinators. However, there are a limited number of studies that relate patterns of phenotypic selection on floral traits to variation in local pollinator assemblages in pollination-generalized plant species. We studied phenotypic selection on floral traits of Viscaria vulgaris, a plant that interacts with a broad range of diurnal and nocturnal pollinators, and related divergence in phenotypic selection on floral traits to the expected level of divergence in local pollinator assemblages. We detected phenotypic selection on floral traits involved in the attraction of pollinators and the mechanics of pollen removal and deposition, and demonstrated that floral traits are subject to spatiotemporal variation in the strength and direction of phenotypic selection. We revealed that diurnal and nocturnal pollinators, when considered in isolation, mediated divergent patterns of phenotypic selection on floral traits. Consistent with the Grant-Stebbins model, we observed that divergence in phenotypic selection on floral traits increased with the expected level of divergence in local pollinator assemblages. Thus, generalized plant-pollinator interactions can mediate phenotypic selection on floral traits, and distinct local pollinator assemblages can generate a geographic mosaic of divergent patterns of phenotypic selection. We underscore that these outcomes are not exclusive to specialized plant-pollinator interactions and can emerge at a local geographic scale.

Pollination efficiency and the pollen-ovule ratio

Pollination presents a risky journey for pollen grains. Pollen loss is sometimes thought to favour greater pollen investment to compensate for the inefficiency of transport. Sex allocation theory, to the contrary, has consistently concluded that postdispersal loss should have no selective effect on investment in either sex function. But the intuitively appealing compensation idea continues to be raised despite the lack of theoretical endorsement. We address the theoretical issue with a model that directly represents pollen loss (and ovule loss through floral demise or loss of receptivity) as rate-dependent dynamical processes. These loss rates can be varied to examine the effect of pollination efficiency on optimal sex allocation. Pollen-ovule ratios follow from the sex allocation based on the resource costs of pollen and ovule production. This model confirms conventional findings that pollen loss should have essentially no effect on sexual resource allocation in large, panmictic populations. Pollen limitation of seed set does not alter this conclusion. These results force us to rethink the empirical association of pollination efficiency with low pollen-ovule ratios. This pattern could arise if efficient pollen transport commonly results in stigmatic deposition of cohorts of related pollen. Empirical evidence of correlated paternity supports this explanation.

Flower-bee versus pollen-bee metanetworks in fragmented landscapes

Understanding the organization of mutualistic networks at multiple spatial scales is key to ensure biological conservation and functionality in human-modified ecosystems. Yet, how changing habitat and landscape features affect pollen-bee interaction networks is still poorly understood. Here, we analysed how bee-flower visitation and bee-pollen-transport interactions respond to habitat fragmentation at the local network and regional metanetwork scales, combining data from 29 fragments of calcareous grasslands, an endangered biodiversity hotspot in central Europe. We found that only 37% of the total unique pairwise species interactions occurred in both pollen-transport and flower visitation networks, whereas 28% and 35% were exclusive to pollen-transport and flower visitation networks, respectively. At local level, network specialization was higher in pollen-transport networks, and was negatively related to the diversity of land cover types in both network types. At metanetwork level, pollen transport data revealed that the proportion of single-fragment interactions increased with landscape diversity. Our results show that the specialization of calcareous grasslands' plant-pollinator networks decreases with landscape diversity, but network specialization is underestimated when only based on flower visitation information. Pollen transport data, more than flower visitation, and multi-scale analyses of metanetworks are fundamental for understanding plant-pollinator interactions in human-dominated landscapes.

Gradual pollen presentation in Vaccinium corymbosum 'Bluecrop': an adaptive mechanism to improve pollination efficiency and outcrossing

Gradual pollen presentation is a plant reproductive mechanism to improve pollination efficiency and accuracy and promote outcrossing. Vaccinium corymbosum 'Bluecrop' has a typical gradual pollen presentation mechanism. 'Bluecrop' exhibits an inverted bell-shaped flower with a white coloration. By investigating the flower syndrome, pollination characteristics, pollination efficiency, and breeding system of 'Bluecrop', this study aims to explore the adaptive significance of these traits. The results showed 'Bluecrop' released pollen gradually through anther poricidal dehiscence. Among different pollinators, Apis mellifera and Bombus can pollinate effectively, and the mechanism of gradual pollen presentation significantly improved the efficiency of pollen transfer. This characteristic limits the amount of pollen removed by the pollinators and prolongs pollen presentation, thus attracting more pollinators and thereby increasing male fitness. The nectar secretion of 'Bluecrop' is gradual, with a large nectar production and a long phase of nectar secretion, enhance visitation frequencies and the chances of successful pollination. At the same time, campanulate corolla can protect pollen as well as nectar from waste due to environmental factors and other effects. The breeding system of 'Bluecrop' relies mainly on outcrossing because of its low affinity for self-fertilization and good interaction with pollinating insects. Thus, the special floral syndrome and the mechanism of secondary pollen presentation are significant in improving pollination efficiency and promoting the reproductive success of 'Bluecrop' by outcrossing. It can provide a certain theoretical basis for the future propagation breeding of 'Bluecrop'.

Harvesting pollen with vibrations: towards an integrative understanding of the proximate and ultimate reasons for buzz pollination

Buzz pollination, a type of interaction in which bees use vibrations to extract pollen from certain kinds of flowers, captures a close relationship between thousands of bee and plant species. In the last 120 years, studies of buzz pollination have contributed to our understanding of the natural history of buzz pollination, and basic properties of the vibrations produced by bees and applied to flowers in model systems. Yet, much remains to be done to establish its adaptive significance and the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of buzz pollination across diverse plant and bee systems. Here, we review for bees and plants the proximate (mechanism and ontogeny) and ultimate (adaptive significance and evolution) explanations for buzz pollination, focusing especially on integrating across these levels to synthesize and identify prominent gaps in our knowledge. Throughout, we highlight new technical and modelling approaches and the importance of considering morphology, biomechanics and behaviour in shaping our understanding of the adaptive significance of buzz pollination. We end by discussing the ecological context of buzz pollination and how a multilevel perspective can contribute to explain the proximate and evolutionary reasons for this ancient bee-plant interaction.

Heterospecific pollen avoidance strategy prevails in the generalized plant-pollinator network on Yongxing Island

Heterospecific pollen (HP) deposition varies widely among species in communities, which has been explicated by two adaptation strategies: HP avoidance and HP tolerance. Studies of the plant-pollinator network have uncovered that oceanic island communities are highly generalized and strongly connected. It remains unclear, however, which strategy prevails in such communities. We examined stigma pollen deposition on 29 plant species, and assessed patterns of HP load size and diversity in the Yongxing Island community. We assessed the effects of phenotypic specialization and species-level network structural properties of plant species on pollen deposition among species. The hypothesis of three accrual patterns of HP within species was tested by illustrating the relationship between conspecific pollen (CP) and HP receipt. Extensive variation occurred among species in HP receipt, while 75.9% of species received less than 10% HP and one species received more than 40% HP throughout the community. Flower size strongly drives the variation of HP receipt, while network structural properties had no effect on the pollen receipt. Nineteen species showed no relationship between the number of HP and CP loads, and they received smaller HP load sizes and lower HP proportions. Most plant species evolved HP avoidance strategy, and HP receipt was an occasional event for most plant species in the generalized community. HP and CP receipts are independent of each other in plant species with the HP avoidance mechanism. Our results highlight that plants in the generalized pollination system may preferentially select to minimize the HP load on stigmas.

Dillenia (Dilleniaceae) pollen heteromorphy and presentation, and implications for pollination by bats

Bat pollination of Dillenia in Fiji, a genus that was presumed to be pollinated by bees, posits that other Dillenia species may be bat-pollinated, with implications for conservation and the understanding of angiosperm evolution. Botanical descriptions of some corolla behaviours ('falling as a whole') suggest bat removal of permanently closed corollas, as in D. biflora. Considering the remoteness of species of interest, we reviewed some Dillenia floral traits to hypothesise what they may mean for bat pollination of the genus. We investigated D. biflora pollen grains apertures and reviewed Dillenia literature concerning corolla behaviour and colour, and pollen apertures and presentation, including pores and staminodes. Our samples had dramatically different ratios of tricolpate to tetracolpate pollen grains, a trait that does not exclude pollination by bees. Petal colour polymorphism occurs, with mixed colours proportionately less common in flowers with corollas that open. The proportion of species with staminodes did not differ between those presumed to be pollinated by bats and others, but anthers of the former were significantly more likely to have apical pores, and stamens all had similar length or were slightly longer in the middle, whereas stamens in two distinct groups occurred in 55% of bee-pollinated species. Pollen heteromorphy may facilitate pollination by different taxa in tropical environments. However, anther apical pores and stamen uniformity are more likely to be associated with bat-pollinated species than are other morphologies. Dillenia could be a useful model to examine evolutionary aspects of colour, heteranthery, staminodes and pollen heteromorphy. Only field work will verify bat pollination and the implications of bat dependence for Dillenia species.

Maize pollen carry bacteria that suppress a fungal pathogen that enters through the male gamete fertilization route

In flowering plants, after being released from pollen grains, the male gametes use the style channel to migrate towards the ovary where they fertilize awaiting eggs. Environmental pathogens exploit the style passage, resulting in diseased progeny seed. The belief is that pollen also transmits pathogens into the style. By contrast, we hypothesized that pollen carries beneficial microbes that suppress environmental pathogens on the style passage. No prior studies have reported pollen-associated bacterial functions in any plant species. Here, bacteria were cultured from maize (corn) pollen encompassing wild ancestors and farmer-selected landraces from across the Americas, grown in a common field in Canada for one season. In total, 298 bacterial isolates were cultured, spanning 45 genera, 103 species, and 88 OTUs, dominated by Pantoea, Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Erwinia, and Microbacterium. Full-length 16S DNA-based taxonomic profiling showed that 78% of bacterial taxa from the major wild ancestor of maize (Parviglumis teosinte) were present in at least one cultivated landrace. The species names of the bacterial isolates were used to search the pathogen literature systematically; this preliminary evidence predicted that the vast majority of the pollen-associated bacteria analyzed are not maize pathogens. The pollen-associated bacteria were tested in vitro against a style-invading Fusarium pathogen shown to cause Gibberella ear rot (GER): 14 isolates inhibited this pathogen. Genome mining showed that all the anti-Fusarium bacterial species encode phzF, associated with biosynthesis of the natural fungicide, phenazine. To mimic the male gamete migration route, three pollen-associated bacterial strains were sprayed onto styles (silks), followed by Fusarium inoculation; these bacteria reduced GER symptoms and mycotoxin accumulation in progeny seed. Confocal microscopy was used to search for direct evidence that pollen-associated bacteria can defend living silks against Fusarium graminearum (Fg); bacterial strain AS541 (Kluyvera intermedia), isolated from pollen of ancestral Parviglumis, was observed to colonize the susceptible style/silk entry points of Fg (silk epidermis, trichomes, wounds). Furthermore, on style/silk tissue, AS541 colonized/aggregated on Fg hyphae, and was associated with Fg hyphal breaks. These results suggest that pollen has the potential to carry bacteria that can defend the style/silk passage against an environmental pathogen - a novel observation.

Rapid genomic evolution in Brassica rapa with bumblebee selection in experimental evolution

BACKGROUND

Insect pollinators shape rapid phenotypic evolution of traits related to floral attractiveness and plant reproductive success. However, the underlying genomic changes remain largely unknown despite their importance in predicting adaptive responses to natural or to artificial selection. Based on a nine-generation experimental evolution study with fast cycling Brassica rapa plants adapting to bumblebees, we investigate the genomic evolution associated with the previously observed parallel phenotypic evolution. In this current evolve and resequencing (E&R) study, we conduct a genomic scan of the allele frequency changes along the genome in bumblebee-pollinated and hand-pollinated plants and perform a genomic principal component analysis (PCA).

RESULTS

We highlight rapid genomic evolution associated with the observed phenotypic evolution mediated by bumblebees. Controlling for genetic drift, we observe significant changes in allelic frequencies at multiple loci. However, this pattern differs according to the replicate of bumblebee-pollinated plants, suggesting putative non-parallel genomic evolution. Finally, our study underlines an increase in genomic variance implying the putative involvement of multiple loci in short-term pollinator adaptation.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, our study enhances our understanding of the complex interactions between pollinator and plants, providing a stepping stone towards unravelling the genetic basis of plant genomic adaptation to biotic factors in the environment.

Sexually concordant selection on floral traits despite greater opportunity for selection through male fitness

Pollinators are important drivers of floral trait evolution, yet plant populations are not always perfectly adapted to their pollinators. Such apparent maladaptation may result from conflicting selection through male and female sexual functions in hermaphrodites. We studied sex-specific mating patterns and phenotypic selection on floral traits in Aconitum gymnandrum. After genotyping 1786 offspring, we partitioned individual fitness into sex-specific selfed and outcrossed components and estimated phenotypic selection acting through each. Relative fitness increased with increasing mate number, and more so for male function. This led to greater opportunity for selection through outcrossed male fitness, though patterns of phenotypic selection on floral traits tended to be similar, and with better support for selection through female rather than male fitness components. We detected directional selection through one or more fitness component for larger flower number, larger flowers, and more negative nectar gradients within inflorescences. Our results are consistent with Bateman's principles for sex-specific mating patterns and illustrate that, despite the expected difference in opportunity for selection, patterns of variation in selection across traits can be rather similar for the male and female sexual functions. These results shed new light on the effect of sexual selection on the evolution of floral traits.

The role of intraspecific variation in bumblebee body size and behavior on buzz pollination of a tropical legume species

PREMISE

The outcomes of generalized mutualisms rely on partner trait variation. In pollination mutualisms, although less explored, intraspecific variation in pollinator traits can be pivotal for successful pollination. We investigated the role of intraspecific body size and behavioral trait variations of bumblebee Bombus morio on the pollination of a buzz-pollinated legume species, Chamaecrista latistipula.

METHODS

To explore the impact of body size and behavior of B. morio on the pollination of C. latistipula, we observed visits to virgin flowers and quantified the pollen removal and deposition (pollination performance) and fruit and seed production (reproductive fitness). By analyzing video and sound recordings, we measured B. morio body size and behavior on each flower, including bee vibration descriptors.

RESULTS

We observed intraspecific behavioral differences among B. morio bumblebees associated with different body sizes. Larger bumblebees had half the handling time and vibrational pulses, less angular displacement within flowers, and larger relative peak amplitudes during vibrations than smaller bumblebees did. Regardless of their large variation in size and behavior, bumblebees were equally effective in removing pollen and pollinating flowers. The high female reproductive fitness was independent of bumblebee body size and behavior, likely due to the interaction between both. On the other hand, larger bumblebees visited flowers for shorter periods, probably promoting higher male reproductive fitness.

CONCLUSIONS

This study is the first to highlight the large intraspecific variation of bumblebee body size and behavior in buzz-pollinated flowers in the field. Together, body size and behavior effects unexpectedly cancel each other, generating a high buzz pollination efficiency.

The economy of pollen dispersal in flowering plants

Mating success of flowering plants depends strongly on the efficiencies of pollen removal from flowers and its subsequent dispersal to conspecific stigmas. We characterized the economy of pollen dispersal in flowering plants by analysing pollen fates and their correlates for 228 species. The mean percentage of pollen removed from flowers (removal efficiency) varied almost twofold according to the type of pollen-dispersal unit, from less than 45% for orchids and milkweeds with solid pollinia, to greater than 80% for species with granular monads or sectile (segmented) pollinia. The mean percentage of removed pollen reaching stigmas (pollen transfer efficiency, PTE) varied from 2.4% for species with separate monads to 27.0% for orchids with solid pollinia. These values tended to be higher in plants with single pollinator species and in those with non-grooming pollinators. Nectar production increased removal efficiency, but did not influence PTE. Among types of pollen-dispersal units, the net percentage of produced pollen that was dispersed to stigmas varied negatively with removal efficiency and positively with PTE, indicating the relative importance of the latter for overall pollen economy. These findings confirm the key importance of floral traits, particularly pollen packaging, for pollen dispersal outcomes and highlight the under-appreciated pollination efficiency of non-grooming pollinators.

Remarkable variation in androecial morphology is closely associated with corolla traits in Western Hemisphere Justiciinae (Acanthaceae: Justicieae)

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Few studies of angiosperms have focused on androecial evolution in conjunction with evolutionary shifts in corolla morphology and pollinator relationships. The Western Hemisphere clade of Justiciinae (Acanthaceae) presents the rare opportunity to examine remarkable diversity in staminal morphology. We took a phylogenetically informed approach to examine staminal diversity in this hypervariable group and asked whether differences in anther thecae separation is associated with phylogenetically informed patterns of variation in corolla morphology. We further discuss evidence for associations between anther diversity and pollinators in this lineage.

METHODS

For the Dianthera/Sarotheca/Plagiacanthus (DSP) clade of Western Hemisphere Justiciinae, we characterized floral diversity based on a series of corolla measurements and using a model-based clustering approach. We then tested for correlations between anther thecae separation and corolla traits, and for shifts in trait evolution, including evidence for convergence.

KEY RESULTS

There is evolutionary vagility in corolla and anther traits across the DSP clade with little signal of phylogenetic constraint. Floral morphology clusters into four distinct groups that are, in turn, strongly associated with anther thecae separation, a novel result in Acanthaceae and, to our knowledge, across flowering plants. These cluster groups are marked by floral traits that strongly point to associations with pollinating animals. Specifically, species that are known or likely to be hummingbird pollinated have stamens with parallel thecae, whereas those that are likely bee or fly pollinated have stamens with offset, divergent thecae.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest that anther thecae separation is likely under selection in concert with other corolla characters. Significant morphological shifts detected by our analyses corresponded to putative shifts from insect to hummingbird pollination. Results from this study support the hypothesis that floral structures function in an integrated manner and are likely subject to selection as a suite. Further, these changes can be hypothesized to represent adaptive evolution.

Pollen morphology for successful pollination dependent on pollinator taxa in a generalist plant: relationship with foraging behavior

Pollen morphology varies at inter- and intraspecific levels. Its interaction with pollinator behavior and morphology determines the probability of successful pollination. We tested whether pollen morphology promoting successful pollination differs depending on pollinator taxa in a generalist shrub, Weigela hortensis (Caprifoliaceae). We identified flower visitors carrying pollen from anthers to stigmas and compared the spine length and diameter of the pollen grains they carried. We found that pollen on the bodies of bumble bees and hunch-back flies and the scopae of small bees (including andrenid bees) contributed to seed production. Pollen grains on the bodies of bumble bees had longer spines than those on the scopae of andrenid bees or the bodies of hunch-back flies. Pollen grains on the bodies of bumble bees and the scopae of andrenid bees had larger diameters than those on hunch-back flies. Bumble bees collected pollen grains with shorter spines and larger diameters on their corbiculae while andrenid bees collected pollen grains with shorter spines and intermediate diameters on their scopae. The differences in morphology of pollen carried by pollinators reflected the tendency of bees to collect pollen with specific morphology into corbiculae/scopae. Our findings suggest that pollen morphology has diversified to facilitate successful pollination by pollinating partners.

Community-wide patterns in pollen and ovule production, their ratio (P/O), and other floral traits along an elevation gradient in southwestern China

BACKGROUND

As the male and female gametophytes of flowering plants, pollen and ovules largely determine the upper and lower boundaries of plant reproductive success. It is commonly predicted that pollen and ovule number per flower should increase, and pollen-ovule ratio (P/O) per flower should decrease with increasing elevation in response to a more stochastic pollination environment. Here, we aimed to determine the response of pollen number, ovule number, and P/O to other floral traits and elevation gradients for 84 insect-pollinated herbaceous flowering plant species in five sub-alpine and alpine communities (2709 to 3896 m a.s.l.) on Yulong Snow Mountain, southwestern China.

RESULTS

Six floral traits, including P/O, floral display area, flower number, tube depth, flower shape, and pollen presentation, were highly correlated with pollen and ovule number per flower. With increasing elevation, pollen number and P/O per flower increased marginally and significantly, respectively; ovule number per individual, flower number per individual, stigma stamen separation, and inflorescence height decreased significantly. However, ovule number per flower and other floral traits (i.e., floral display area, tube depth, stigma height, stamen height, and pollen and P/O per individual) did not change with elevation. We detected significant phylogenetic signals for pollen number, ovule number, and P/O, suggesting that these traits may be highly conserved and with limited response to changing environmental conditions.

CONCLUSIONS

Results revealed patterns of plant reproductive character evolution along elevation gradients and the potential factors governing their spatial variation in high-elevation environments. Plant species at high elevations are more likely adapted to cross-pollination, indicated by increased P/O per flower at high elevations on Yulong Mountain. Combined effects of phylogenetic history and plant-pollinator interactions should determine plant trait evolution.

Pollen production per flower increases with floral display size across animal-pollinated flowering plants

PREMISE

The number of open flowers on a plant (i.e., floral display size) can influence plant fitness by increasing pollinator attraction. However, diminishing marginal fitness returns with increasing floral display are expected as pollinators tend to visit more flowers per plant consecutively. An extended flower visitation sequence increases the fraction of ovules disabled by self-pollination (ovule discounting) and reduces the fraction of a plant's own pollen that is exported to sire seeds in other plants (pollen discounting). Hermaphroditic species with a genetic system that prevents self-fertilization (self-incompatibility) would avoid ovule discounting and its fitness cost, whereas species without such a genetically based barrier would not. Contrarily, pollen discounting would be an unavoidable consequence of a large floral display irrespective of selfing barriers. Nevertheless, the increasing fitness costs of ovule and pollen discounting could be offset by respectively increasing ovule and pollen production per flower.

METHODS

We compiled data on floral display size and pollen and ovule production per flower for 1241 animal-pollinated, hermaphroditic angiosperm species, including data on the compatibility system for 779 species. We used phylogenetic general linear mixed models to assess the relations of pollen and ovule production to floral display size.

RESULTS

Our findings provide evidence of increasing pollen production, but not of ovule production, with increasing display size irrespective of compatibility system and even after accounting for potentially confounding effects like flower size and growth form.

CONCLUSIONS

Our comparative study supports the pollen-discount expectation of an adaptive link between per-flower pollen production and floral display across animal-pollinated angiosperms.

The pollen virome: A review of pollen-associated viruses and consequences for plants and their interactions with pollinators

The movement of pollen grains from anthers to stigmas, often by insect pollinator vectors, is essential for plant reproduction. However, pollen is also a unique vehicle for viral spread. Pollen-associated plant viruses reside on the outside or inside of pollen grains, infect susceptible individuals through vertical or horizontal infection pathways, and can decrease plant fitness. These viruses are transferred with pollen between plants by pollinator vectors as they forage for floral resources; thus, pollen-associated viral spread is mediated by floral and pollen grain phenotypes and pollinator traits, much like pollination. Most of what is currently known about pollen-associated viruses was discovered through infection and transmission experiments in controlled settings, usually involving one virus and one plant species of agricultural or horticultural interest. In this review, we first provide an updated, comprehensive list of the recognized pollen-associated viruses. Then, we summarize virus, plant, pollinator vector, and landscape traits that can affect pollen-associated virus transmission, infection, and distribution. Next, we highlight the consequences of plant-pollinator-virus interactions that emerge in complex communities of co-flowering plants and pollinator vectors, such as pollen-associated virus spread between plant species and viral jumps from plant to pollinator hosts. We conclude by emphasizing the need for collaborative research that bridges pollen biology, virology, and pollination biology.

Honey bee introductions displace native bees and decrease pollination of a native wildflower

Introduced species can have cascading effects on ecological communities, but indirect effects of species introductions are rarely the focus of ecological studies. For example, managed honey bees (Apis mellifera) have been widely introduced outside their native range and are increasingly dominant floral visitors. Multiple studies have documented how honey bees impact native bee communities through floral resource competition, but few have quantified how these competitive interactions indirectly affect pollination and plant reproduction. Such indirect effects are hard to detect because honey bees are themselves pollinators and may directly impact pollination through their own floral visits. The potentially huge but poorly understood impacts that non-native honey bees have on native plant populations combined with increased pressure from beekeepers to place hives in U.S. National Parks and Forests makes exploring impacts of honey bee introductions on native plant pollination of pressing concern. In this study, we used experimental hive additions, field observations, as well as single-visit and multiple-visit pollination effectiveness trials across multiple years to untangle the direct and indirect impacts of increasing honey bee abundance on the pollination of an ecologically important wildflower, Camassia quamash. We found compelling evidence that honey bee introductions indirectly decrease pollination by reducing nectar and pollen availability and competitively excluding visits from more effective native bees. In contrast, the direct impact of honey bee visits on pollination was negligible, and, if anything, negative. Honey bees were ineffective pollinators, and increasing visit quantity could not compensate for inferior visit quality. Indeed, although the effect was not statistically significant, increased honey bee visits had a marginally negative impact on seed production. Thus, honey bee introductions may erode longstanding plant-pollinator mutualisms, with negative consequences for plant reproduction. Our study calls for a more thorough understanding of the indirect effects of species introductions and more careful coordination of hive placements.

Pollinator foraging tactics have divergent consequences for the mating system of a tropical plant

Resolving the consequences of pollinator foraging behaviour for plant mating systems is a fundamental challenge in evolutionary ecology. Pollinators may adopt particular foraging tactics: complete trapline foraging (repeated movements along a fixed route), sample-and-shift trapline foraging (a variable route that incorporates information from previous experiences) and territorial foraging (stochastic movements within a restricted area). Studies that integrate these pollinator foraging tactics with plant mating systems are generally lacking. We investigate the consequences of particular pollinator foraging tactics for Heliconia tortuosa. We combine parentage and sibship inference analysis with simulation modelling to: estimate mating system parameters; infer the foraging tactic adopted by the pollinators; and quantify the impact of pollinator foraging tactics on mating system parameters. We found high outcrossing rates, ubiquitous multiple paternity and a pronounced departure from near-neighbour mating. We also found that plants repeatedly receive pollen from a series of particular donors. We infer that the pollinators primarily adopt complete trapline foraging and occasionally engage in sample-and-shift trapline foraging. This enhances multiple paternity without a substantial increase in near-neighbour mating. The particular pollinator foraging tactics have divergent consequences for multiple paternity and near-neighbour mating. Thus, pollinator foraging behaviour is an important driver of the ecology and evolution of plant mating systems.

Disentangling the components of pollen limitation in a widespread herb with gametophytic self-incompatibility

PREMISE

Seed production is frequently limited by the receipt of insufficient or low-quality pollen, collectively termed "pollen limitation" (PL). In taxa with gametophytic self-incompatibility (GSI), incompatible pollen can germinate on stigmas but pollen tubes are arrested in styles. This allows for estimates of pollen performance before, during, and after self-recognition, as well as insight into the factors underlying pollen quality limitation in GSI taxa.

METHODS

We scored pollen performance following self and outcross pollinations in Argentina anserina to identify the location of self-recognition and establish the relationship between pollen tubes and seed production. We then estimated quantity and quality components of PL from >3300 field-collected styles. We combined our results with other studies to test the prediction that low pollen quality, but not quantity, drives higher PL in self-incompatible (SI) taxa than in self-compatible taxa (SC).

RESULTS

Self and outcross pollen germinated readily on stigmas, but 96% of germinated self-pollen was arrested during early tube elongation. Reproduction in the field was more limited by pollen quality than by quantity, and pollen failure near the location of self-recognition was a stronger barrier to fertilization than pollen germination. Across 26 taxa, SI species experienced stronger pollen quality, but not quantity, limitation than SC species.

CONCLUSIONS

Evaluating pollen performance at multiple points within pistils can elucidate potential causes of pollen quality limitation. The receipt of incompatible pollen inhibits fertilization success more than insufficient pollen receipt or poor pollen germination in A. anserina. Likewise, pollen quality limitation drives high overall PL in other SI taxa.

Pollen-feeding behavior of diverse insects on Geranium delavayi, a flower with large, accessible pollen grains

PREMISE

Why have pollen grains evolved to be exceptionally large in some species? Pollen-feeding hypothesis suggests that if the proportion of pollen amounts for feeding is reduced in a flower, the low allocation to pollen number would allow pollen grains to be larger.

METHODS

To examine whether species with large pollen grains experience low pollen consumption, the behavior of insects feeding on nectar and pollen was observed and pollen transfer efficiency was estimated for four visitor types in Geranium delavayi. To see whether bees actively collected pollen, the numbers of grains in pollen baskets and on the body were compared. Both nutritional value (total protein and lipid) and chemical defense (phenolic metabolites) in pollen against pollen feeders were measured.

RESULTS

Bumblebees and honeybees foraged for nectar, rarely groomed pollen into corbiculae, and had >5× higher pollen transfer efficiency than smaller solitary bees and flies, which were pollen eaters that removed more pollen but deposited less. Pollen grains were characterized by low protein and high lipid content with a low protein-lipid ratio, an unfavorable combination for bumblebees. Three secondary metabolites were significantly higher in pollen grains (7.77 mg/g) than in petals (1.08 mg/g) or in nectar (0.44 mg/g), suggesting stronger chemical defense in pollen.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results indicated that large bees took nectar but little of the nutritionally poor and highly toxic pollen. These data support one prediction of the pollen-feeding hypothesis, that species with few and large pollen grains would also have low pollen-consumption rates.

Pollen competition in hybridizing Cakile species: How does a latecomer win the race?

PREMISE

Hybridization between cross-compatible species depends on the extent of competition between alternative mates. Even if stigmatic compatibility allows for hybridization, hybridization requires the heterospecific pollen to be competitive. Here, we determined whether conspecific pollen has an advantage in the race to fertilize ovules and the potential handicap to be overcome by heterospecific pollen in invasive Cakile species.

METHODS

We used fluorescence microscopy to measure pollen tube growth after conspecific and heterospecific hand-pollination treatments. We then determined siring success in the progeny relative to the timing of heterospecific pollen arrival on the stigma using CAPS markers.

RESULTS

In the absence of pollen competition, pollination time and pollen recipient species had a significant effect on the ratio of pollen tube growth. In long-styled C. maritima (outcrosser), pollen tubes grew similarly in both directions. In short-styled C. edentula (selfer), conspecific and heterospecific pollen tubes grew differently. Cakile edentula pollen produced more pollen tubes, revealing the potential for a mating asymmetry whereby C. edentula pollen had an advantage relative to C. maritima. In the presence of pollen competition, siring success was equivalent when pollen deposition was synchronous. However, a moderate 1-h advantage in the timing of conspecific pollination resulted in almost complete assortative mating, while an equivalent delay in conspecific pollination resulted in substantial hybrid formation.

CONCLUSIONS

Hybridization can aid the establishment of invasive species through the transfer of adaptive alleles from cross-compatible species, but also lead to extinction through demographic or genetic swamping. Time of pollen arrival on the stigma substantially affected hybridization rate, pointing to the importance of pollination timing in driving introgression and genetic swamping.

Mating and fitness consequences of variation in male allocation in a wind-pollinated plant

In hermaphrodites, the allocation of resources to each sex function can influence fitness through mating success. A prediction that arises from sex allocation theory is that in wind-pollinated plants, male fitness should increase linearly with investment of resources into male function but there have been few empirical tests of this prediction. In a field experiment, we experimentally manipulated allocation to male function in Ambrosia artemisiifolia (common ragweed) and measured mating success in contrasting phenotypes using genetic markers. We investigated the effects of morphological traits and flowering phenology on male siring success, and on the diversity of mates. Our results provide evidence for a linear relation between allocation to male function, mating, and fitness. We find earlier onset of male flowering time increases reproductive success, whereas later flowering increases the probability of mating with diverse individuals. Our study is among the first empirical tests of the prediction of linear male fitness returns in wind-pollinated plants and emphasizes the importance of a large investment into male function by wind-pollinated plants and mating consequences of temporal variation in sex allocation.

Do marginal plant populations enhance the fitness of larger core units under ongoing climate change? Empirical insights from a rare carnation

Assisted gene flow (AGF) can restore fitness in small plant populations. Due to climate change, current fitness patterns could vary in the future ecological scenario, as highly performant lineages can undergo maladaptation under the new climatic contexts. Peripheral populations have been argued to represent a potential source of species adaptation against climate change, but experimental evidence is poor. This paper considers the consequences of within- and between-population mating between a large core population and the southernmost population, the rare Dianthus guliae, to evaluate optimal AGF design under current and future conditions. We performed experimental self-pollinations and within- and between-population cross-pollinations to generate seed material and test its adaptive value to aridity. Seed germination, seedling growth and survival were measured under current and expected aridity. Effects of population type, pollination treatment and stress treatment on fitness components were analysed by generalized linear models. Relative measures of inbreeding depression and heterosis were taken under different stress treatments. Self-pollination reduced fitness for all the considered traits compared to within- and between-population cross-pollination. Under current aridity regime, the core population expressed higher fitness, and a larger magnitude of inbreeding depression. This indicated the core unit is close to its fitness optimum and could allow for restoring the fitness of the small peripheral population. Contrarily, under increased aridity, the fitness of outbred core lineages decreased, suggesting the rise of maladaptation. In this scenario, AGF from the small peripheral population enhanced the fitness of the core unit, whereas AGF from the core population promoted a fitness loss in the peripheral population. Hence, the small peripheral population could improve fitness of large core units versus climate change, while the contrary could be not true. Integrating reciprocal breeding programmes and fitness analyses under current and predicted ecological conditions can support optimal AGF design in a long-term perspective.

Habitat effects on reproductive phenotype, pollinator behavior, fecundity, and mating outcomes of a bumble bee-pollinated herb

PREMISE

Fecundity and mating outcomes commonly differ among plant populations occupying contrasting environments. If self-pollination occurs primarily among flowers within plants, contrasting reproductive outcomes among populations must reflect environmental effects on plant-pollinator interactions. Specifically, local conditions could affect features of plant phenotypes that influence pollinator behavior, in turn modifying plant reproductive outcomes.

METHODS

We compared phenotypes, pollinator abundance and behavior, and female fecundity and mating in two meadow populations and two forest populations of Aconitum kusnezoffii within 3 km of each other. Mating outcomes were assessed using microsatellites.

RESULTS

Meadow plants generally produced more, shorter ramets with more, larger flowers, but less nectar per flower than forest plants. These differences likely largely represent phenotypic plasticity. Individual bumble bees visited more flowers on forest plants, likely because the more abundant bees in the meadows depleted nectar availability, as indicated by briefer visits to individual flowers. Despite similar fruit set in both habitats, forest plants set more seeds per fruit. Nevertheless, meadow plants produced more seeds overall, owing to sevenfold greater flower production. Consistent with individual bees visiting fewer flowers on meadow plants, more of their seeds were outcrossed. However, the outcrossed seeds of forest plants included more male mates.

CONCLUSIONS

Reproductive outcomes can vary among populations of animal-pollinated plants as a result of differences in the availability of effective pollinators and environmental effects on plant phenotypes, and their functional consequences for pollinator behavior that governs pollen dispersal.

Hummingbird contribution to plant reproduction in the rupestrian grasslands is not defined by pollination syndrome

Floral traits mediate the roles of distinct animals as effective pollinators along a generalization/specialization continuum. Many plant species are visited by different pollinator functional groups and the specific contribution of each group is expected to reflect the set of floral characteristics defined by pollination syndromes. Although considered a highly specialized nectarivorous group, hummingbirds frequently visit flowers lacking apparent specialization to bird pollination. How they contribute to the reproduction of these plants, however, has not been evaluated through field experiments considering multiple non-related plant species simultaneously. Here, we investigated hummingbirds' contributions to the pollination of ten plant species comprising a gradient of adaptation to bird pollination in the Brazilian rupestrian grasslands. We excluded hummingbirds from flowers and evaluated their relative contribution in comparison to insects (mainly bees) on conspecific/heterospecific pollen deposition and fruit set. Floral traits that are typically associated with bird pollination were associated with increased pollen deposition, but not with fruit set in the presence of hummingbirds. With hummingbirds, conspecific and heterospecific pollen deposition increased in most species, while fruit set increased in four plant species with varying degrees of fit to ornithophily. Our results show that assessing the relative contribution of specific pollinator groups may depend on when this contribution is measured, i.e. pollen deposition or fruit set. Considering fruit set, our results indicate that hummingbirds contributed to plant reproduction independently of the fit to bird pollination syndrome. This emphasizes their importance as under-appreciated generalized pollinators in some communities.

A meta-analysis of single visit pollination effectiveness comparing honeybees and other floral visitors

PREMISE

Many animals provide ecosystem services in the form of pollination including honeybees, which have become globally dominant floral visitors. A rich literature documents considerable variation in single visit pollination effectiveness, but this literature has yet to be extensively synthesized to address whether honeybees are effective pollinators.

METHODS

We conducted a hierarchical meta-analysis of 168 studies and extracted 1564 single visit effectiveness (SVE) measures for 240 plant species. We paired SVE data with visitation frequency data for 69 of these studies. We used these data to ask three questions: (1) Do honeybees (Apis mellifera) and other floral visitors differ in their SVE? (2) To what extent do plant and pollinator attributes predict differences in SVE between honeybees and other visitors? (3) Is there a correlation between visitation frequency and SVE?

RESULTS

Honeybees were significantly less effective than the most effective non-honeybee pollinators but were as effective as the average pollinator. The type of pollinator moderated these effects. Honeybees were less effective compared to the most effective and average bird and bee pollinators but were as effective as other taxa. Visitation frequency and SVE were positively correlated, but this trend was largely driven by data from communities where honeybees were absent.

CONCLUSIONS

Although high visitation frequencies make honeybees important pollinators, they were less effective than the average bee and rarely the most effective pollinator of the plants they visit. As such, honeybees may be imperfect substitutes for the loss of wild pollinators, and safeguarding pollination will benefit from conservation of non-honeybee taxa.

A sophisticated case of division of labour in the trimorphic stamens of the Cassia fistula (Leguminosae) flower

Buzz-pollinated pollen flowers have pollen as the primary resource for pollinators and must deal with a conflict between the exploitation of pollen grains by bees and pollination success. It has been hypothesized that heterostemony allows division of labour between stamens as a solution to the pollen dilemma. To test the division of labour hypothesis, we chose Cassia fistula, which has a trimorphic androecium and analysed androecium development, pollen grain release mechanisms and visitor behaviour. We explored the reflectance of floral organs and carried out an exclusion experiment to test the attractiveness of each stamen morph to the bee species. Finally, we explored the structural, ultrastructural and functional variation between the pollen grains, including pollen viability across stamen morphs. The differences among the three stamen morphs, which is developed from two whorls of the stamen, are the first evidence of the division of labour in our study system. Large Bombus and Xylocopa bees actively and exclusively exploited the pollen grains from the central poricidal anthers generating pollen deposition on their bodies. The reflectance pattern of floral organs indicated a targeting of these large bees to the central anthers, corroborated by the anther manipulative experiment where only the exclusion of the anthers positioned in the flower centre, especially the intermediate stamens, reduced bee visits. Both results revealed a division of labour, in which the intermediate stamen morph was responsible for both floral attractiveness and pollen resources. Only the largest stamen morph produced germinable pollen grains, highlighting their role as pollinating stamens. The smallest stamen morph has a less clear function, likely representing an economy in pollen production for feeding function. Our findings suggest that the evolution of the trimorphic androecium is associated with division of labour in large pollen flowers and can represent a strong strategy for circumventing the pollen dilemma, optimizing the feeding function by reducing pollen grain investment from central anthers.

Pollinators contribute to the maintenance of flowering plant diversity

Mechanisms that favour rare species are key to the maintenance of diverse communities^1-3. One of the most critical tasks for conservation of flowering plant biodiversity is to understand how plant-pollinator interactions contribute to the maintenance of rare species^4-7. Here we show that niche partitioning in pollinator use and asymmetric facilitation confer fitness advantage of rarer species in a biodiversity hotspot using phylogenetic structural equation modelling that integrates plant-pollinator and interspecific pollen transfer networks with floral functional traits. Co-flowering species filtered pollinators via floral traits, and rarer species showed greater pollinator specialization leading to higher pollination-mediated male and female fitness than more abundant species. When plants shared pollinator resources, asymmetric facilitation via pollen transport dynamics benefitted the rarer species at the cost of more abundant species, serving as an alternative diversity-promoting mechanism. Our results emphasize the importance of community-wide plant-pollinator interactions that affect reproduction for biodiversity maintenance.

Spatial variation in the intensity of interactions via heterospecific pollen transfer may contribute to local and global patterns of plant diversity

BACKGROUND

Studies that aim to understand the processes that generate and organize plant diversity in nature have a long history in ecology. Among these, the study of plant-plant interactions that take place indirectly via pollinator choice and floral visitation has been paramount. Current evidence, however, indicates that plants can interact more directly via heterospecific pollen (HP) transfer and that these interactions are ubiquitous and can have strong fitness effects. The intensity of HP interactions can also vary spatially, with important implications for floral evolution and community assembly.

SCOPE

Interest in understanding the role of heterospecific pollen transfer in the diversification and organization of plant communities is rapidly rising. The existence of spatial variation in the intensity of species interactions and their role in shaping patterns of diversity is also well recognized. However, after 40 years of research, the importance of spatial variation in HP transfer intensity and effects remains poorly known, and thus we have ignored its potential in shaping patterns of diversity at local and global scales. Here, I develop a conceptual framework and summarize existing evidence for the ecological and evolutionary consequences of spatial variation in HP transfer interactions and outline future directions in this field.

CONCLUSIONS

The drivers of variation in HP transfer discussed here illustrate the high potential for geographic variation in HP intensity and its effects, as well as in the evolutionary responses to HP receipt. So far, the study of pollinator-mediated plant-plant interactions has been almost entirely dominated by studies of pre-pollination interactions even though their outcomes can be influenced by plant-plant interactions that take place on the stigma. It is hence critical that we fully evaluate the consequences and context-dependency of HP transfer interactions in order to gain a more complete understanding of the role that plant-pollinator interactions play in generating and organizing plant biodiversity.

Restored and remnant Banksia woodlands elicit different foraging behavior in avian pollinators

Pollinators and the pollination services they provide are critical for seed set and self-sustainability of most flowering plants. Despite this, pollinators are rarely assessed in restored plant communities, where their services are largely assumed to re-establish. Bird-pollinator richness, foraging, and interaction behavior were compared between natural and restored Banksia woodland sites in Western Australia to assess their re-establishment in restored sites. These parameters were measured for natural communities of varying size and degree of fragmentation, and restored plant communities of high and low complexity for three years, in the summer and winter flowering of Banksia attenuata and B. menziesii, respectively. Bird visitor communities varied in composition, richness, foraging movement distances, and aggression among sites. Bird richness and abundance were lowest in fragmented remnants. Differences in the composition were associated with the size and degree of fragmentation in natural sites, but this did not differ between seasons. Restored sites and their adjacent natural sites had similar species composition, suggesting proximity supports pollinator re-establishment. Pollinator foraging movements were influenced by the territorial behavior of different species. Using a network analysis approach, we found foraging behavior varied, with more frequent aggressive chases observed in restored sites, resulting in more movements out of the survey areas, than observed in natural sites. Aggressors were larger-bodied Western Wattlebirds (Anthochaera chrysoptera) and New Holland Honeyeaters (Phylidonyris novaehollandiae) that dominated nectar resources, particularly in winter. Restored sites had re-established pollination services, albeit with clear differences, as the degree of variability in the composition and behavior of bird pollinators for Banksias in the natural sites created a broad completion target against which restored sites were assessed. The abundance, diversity, and behavior of pollinator services to remnant and restored Banksia woodland sites were impacted by the size and degree of fragmentation, which in turn influenced bird-pollinator composition, and were further influenced by seasonal changes between summer and winter. Consideration of the spatial and temporal landscape context of restored sites, along with plant community diversity, is needed to ensure the maintenance of the effective movement of pollinators between natural remnant woodlands and restored sites.

Mutualisms and (A)symmetry in Plant-Pollinator Interactions

The majority of flowering plants relies on animal pollinators for sexual reproduction and many animal pollinators rely on floral resources. However, interests of plants and pollinators are often not the same, resulting in an asymmetric relationship that ranges from mutualistic to parasitic interactions. Our understanding of the processes that underlie this asymmetry remains fragmentary. In this Review, we bring together evidence from evolutionary biology, plant chemistry, biomechanics, sensory ecology and behaviour to illustrate that the degree of symmetry often depends on the perspective taken. We also highlight variation in (a)symmetry within and between plant and pollinator species as well as between geographic locations. Through taking different perspectives from the plant and pollinator sides we provide new ground for studies on the maintenance and evolution of animal pollination and on the (a)symmetry in plant-pollinator interactions.

Pollinator effectiveness is affected by intraindividual behavioral variation

Variation in pollinator quality is fundamental to the evolution of plant-pollinator mutualisms and such variation frequently results from differences in foraging behavior. Surprisingly, despite substantial intraindividual variation in pollinator foraging behavior, the consequences for pollen removal and deposition on flowers are largely unknown. We asked how two pollen foraging behaviors of a generalist pollinator (Bombus impatiens) affect removal and deposition of heterospecific and conspecific pollen, key aspects of pollinator quality, for multiple plant species. In addition, we examined how bee body size and pollen placement among body parts shaped pollen movement. We manipulated foraging behavior types using artificial flowers, which donated pollen that captive bees then deposited on three recipient plant species. While body size primarily affected donor pollen removal, foraging behavior primarily affected donor pollen deposition. How behavior affected donor pollen deposition depended on the plant species and the quantity of donor pollen on the bee's abdomen. Plant species with smaller stigmas received significantly less pollen and fewer bees successfully transferred pollen to them. For a single plant species, heterospecific pollen interfered with conspecific pollen deposition, such that more heterospecific pollen on the bee's abdomen resulted in less conspecific pollen deposition on the flower. Thus, intraindividual variation in foraging behavior and its interaction with the amount and placement of acquired pollen and with floral morphology can affect pollinator quality and may shape plant fitness via both conspecific and heterospecific pollen transfer.

Paternal outcrossing success differs among faba bean genotypes and impacts breeding of synthetic cultivars

Faba bean genotypes showed significant and marked genetic differences in their success as pollen donors to cross-fertilized seeds. The findings may improve exploitation of heterosis in synthetic cultivars. In partially allogamous crops such as faba bean (Vicia faba L.), increasing the share of heterosis in a synthetic cultivar can improve yield and yield stability. The share of heterosis in such synthetic cultivars is increased by higher degrees of cross-fertilization. This trait is defined as percentage of cross-fertilized seeds among all seeds and is a crucial parameter in breeders' yield predictions. Current approaches use degree of cross-fertilization to predict inbreeding and share of heterosis, they even consider genotype-specific degrees; yet, all genotypes are assumed to contribute equally to the cross-fertilized seeds. Here, we expect faba bean genotypes to differ in their success rates as pollen donors, i.e. in paternal outcrossing success. To quantify the variation of both, the degree of cross-fertilization and the paternal outcrossing success, we assessed these parameters in inbred lines and F1 hybrids, grown in four polycrosses composed of eight genotypes each. We identified the paternal genotype of 500 to 800 seeds per genotype and polycross using SNP markers. In both traits, we found marked and significant variation among inbred lines and among F1 hybrids, as well as between inbred lines and F1. Based on our findings, we discuss how differential paternal outcrossing success influences the amount of inbreeding in synthetic cultivars. Our findings offer the potential for a better management and exploitation of heterotic yield increase in faba bean.

Feeding friend and foe: ample pollen mitigates the effects of pollen theft for a gynodioecious plant, Polemonium foliosissimum (Polemoniaceae)

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Most angiosperms rely on pollinators to transport pollen and effect fertilization. While some floral visitors are effective pollinators, others act as thieves, consuming pollen but effecting little pollination in return. The importance of pollen theft in male and female reproductive success has received little attention. Here, we examined if pollen consumption by flies altered pollen receipt and exacerbated pollen limitation for a bumblebee-pollinated plant, Polemonium foliosissimum (Polemoniaceae).

METHODS

To examine the effect of pollen-thieving flies, we took a three-pronged approach. First, we used single-visit observations to quantify pollen removal and pollen deposition by flies and bumblebees. Second, we manipulated pollen in the neighbourhood around focal plants in two years to test whether pollen reduction reduced pollen receipt. Third, we combined pollen reduction with hand-pollination to test whether pollen thieving exacerbated pollen limitation. Polemonium foliosissimum is gynodioecious in most populations in the Elk Mountains of central Colorado, USA. Thus, we also tested whether pollen theft affected hermaphrodites and females differently.

RESULTS

Flies removed significantly more pollen and deposited less pollen per visit than did bumblebees. Reduction of pollen in the neighbourhood around focal plants reduced pollen receipt in both years but only nearly significantly so in 2015. In 2016, plants were significantly pollen-limited; hand-pollination significantly increased seeds per fruit for both hermaphrodites and females. However, the reduction of pollen around focal plants did not exacerbate pollen limitation for either hermaphrodites or females.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest that plants tolerate significant consumption of pollen by thieves and pollinators by producing ample pollen to feed both and fertilize available ovules. Our results demonstrate that pollen limitation in P. foliosissimum is driven by lack of effective pollinators rather than lack of pollen. Teasing out these effects elucidates the relative importance of drivers of reproductive success and thus the expected response to selection by different floral visitors.

Pollen transport: Illuminating a key mechanism of disassortative pollination

Floral sexual polymorphisms have evolved repeatedly in angiosperms and are thought to reduce self-pollination and increase pollen export. Using a powerful pollen-labeling technique, quantum dots, a new study shows that pollen placement on pollinator bodies plays a critical role in disassortative pollination.

A meta-analysis of responses in floral traits and flower-visitor interactions to water deficit

Alterations in water availability and drought events as predicted by climate change scenarios will increasingly impact natural communities with effects already emerging at present. Water deficit leads to increasing physiological stress in plants, likely affecting floral development and causing changes in floral morphology, nectar and pollen production or scent. Understanding how these floral traits are altered by water deficit is necessary to predict changes in plant-pollinator interactions and how communities are impacted in the future. Here we employ a meta-analysis approach to synthesize the current evidence of experimental water deficit on floral traits and plant-pollinator interactions. Furthermore, we explore experimental factors potentially increasing heterogeneity between studies and provide ideas how to enhance comparability between studies. In the end, we highlight future directions and knowledge gaps for floral traits and plant-pollinator interactions under water deficit. Our analysis showed consistent decreases in floral size, number of flowers and nectar volume to reduced water availability. Other floral traits such as the start of flowering or herkogamy showed no consistent pattern. This indicates that effects of reduced water availability differ between specific traits that are potentially involved in different functions such as pollinator attraction or efficiency. We found no general decreasing visitation rates with water deficit for flower-visitor interactions. Furthermore, the comparison of available studies suggests that increased reporting of plant stress severity and including more hydraulic and physiological measurements will improve the comparability across experiments and aid a more mechanistic understanding of plant-pollinator interactions under altered environmental conditions. Overall, our results show that water deficit has the potential to strongly affect plant-pollinator interactions via changes in specific floral traits. Linking these changes to pollination services and pollinator performance is one crucial step for understanding how changing water availability and drought events under climate change will alter plant and pollinator communities.

Connective appendages in Huberia bradeana (Melastomataceae) affect pollen release during buzz pollination

Floral structures, such as stamen appendages, play crucial roles in pollinator attraction, pollen release dynamics and, ultimately, the reproductive success of plants. The pollen-rewarding, bee buzz-pollinated flowers of Melastomataceae often bear conspicuous staminal appendages. Surprisingly, their functional role in the pollination process remains largely unclear. We use Huberia bradeana Bochorny & R. Goldenb. (Melastomataceae) with conspicuously elongated, twisted stamen appendages to investigate their functional role in the pollination process. We studied the effect of stamen appendages on pollinator behaviour and reproductive success by comparing manipulated flowers (appendages removed) with unmanipulated flowers. To assess bee pollinator behaviour, we measured three properties of buzzes (vibrations) produced by bees on Huberia flowers: frequency, duration and number of buzzes per flower visit. We measured male and female reproductive success by monitoring pollen release and deposition after single bee visits. Finally, we used artificial vibrations and laser vibrometry to assess how flower vibrational properties change with the removal of stamen appendages. Our results show that the absence of staminal appendages does not modify bee buzzing behaviour. Pollen release was higher in unmanipulated flowers, but stigmatic pollen loads differ only marginally between the two treatments. We also detected lower vibration amplitudes in intact flowers as compared to manipulated flowers in artificial vibration experiments. The presence of connective appendages are crucial in transmitting vibrations and assuring optimal pollen release. Therefore, we propose that the high diversity of colours, shapes and sizes of connective appendages in buzz-pollinated flowers may have evolved by selection through male fitness.

Low bee visitation rates explain pollinator shifts to vertebrates in tropical mountains

Evolutionary shifts from bee to vertebrate pollination are common in tropical mountains. Reduction in bee pollination efficiency under adverse montane weather conditions was proposed to drive these shifts. Although pollinator shifts are central to the evolution and diversification of angiosperms, we lack experimental evidence of the ecological processes underlying such shifts. Here, we combine phylogenetic and distributional data for 138 species of the Neotropical plant tribe Merianieae (Melastomataceae) with pollinator observations of 11 and field pollination experiments of six species to test whether the mountain environment may indeed drive such shifts. We demonstrate that shifts from bee to vertebrate pollination coincided with occurrence at high elevations. We show that vertebrates were highly efficient pollinators even under the harsh environmental conditions of tropical mountains, whereas bee pollination efficiency was lowered significantly through reductions in flower visitation rates. Furthermore, we show that pollinator shifts in Merianieae coincided with the final phases of the Andean uplift and were contingent on adaptive floral trait changes to alternative rewards and mechanisms facilitating pollen dispersal. Our results provide evidence that abiotic environmental conditions (i.e. mountain climate) may indeed reduce the efficiency of a plant clade's ancestral pollinator group and correlate with shifts to more efficient new pollinators.

Plant-centred sampling estimates higher beta diversity of interactions than pollinator-based sampling across habitats

When describing plant-animal interaction networks, sampling can be performed using plant- or animal-centred approaches. Despite known effects of sampling on network structure, how samplings affect the estimates of interaction β-diversity across networks is still unresolved. We investigated how the sampling method affects the assessment of β-diversity of interactions, turnover and rewiring. We contrasted plant- and animal-centred sampling methods applied to pollination networks across habitats in a heterogeneous tropical landscape, the Pantanal Wetlands. We also asked whether plant traits influence the difference in interaction specialization according to sampling. Plant-centred networks resulted in higher β-diversity of interactions in space than animal-centred networks. Turnover explained most of the β-diversity in both methods, but rewiring was proportionately more important when using the animal-centred method. While the plant-centred method indicated lower network modularity and specialization, floral traits modulated the effects of the sampling method on species-level network metrics. Combining animal- and plant-centred approaches returned intermediate values for β-diversity of interactions and network metrics. Distinct methods may also be better suited for answering questions at different scales. Our results point out that the method choice, or combination of methods, should always reflect the appropriate scale of the factors determining the interactions being investigated.