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Nakazawa T, Kishi S. Pollinator sex matters in competition and coexistence of co-flowering plants. Sci Rep 2023; 13:4497. [PMID: 36934149 PMCID: PMC10024751 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-31671-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2022] [Accepted: 03/15/2023] [Indexed: 03/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Male and female pollinators often exhibit sex-specific preferences for visiting different flowers. Recent studies have shown that these preferences play an important role in shaping the network structure of pollination mutualism, but little is known about how they can mediate plant-plant interactions and coexistence of competing plants. The ecological consequences of sex-specific pollination can be complex. Suppose that a plant is favoured by female pollinators. They produce male pollinators, who may prefer visiting other competing plants and intensify the negative effects of inter-plant competition. Here, we analysed a simple two plant-one pollinator model with the sex structure of the pollinator. We observed that (i) sex-specific pollination can have complex consequences for inter-plant competition and coexistence (e.g. the occurrence of non-trivial alternative stable states in which one plant excludes or coexists with the other depending on the initial conditions), (ii) male and female pollinators have distinct ecological consequences because female pollinators have a demographic impact owing to reproduction, and (iii) plants are likely to coexist when male and female pollinators prefer different plants. These results suggest that sex-specific pollination is crucial for competition and coexistence of co-flowering plants. Future, pollination research should more explicitly consider the sex-specific behaviour of pollinating animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takefumi Nakazawa
- Department of Life Sciences, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan City, Taiwan.
| | - Shigeki Kishi
- Research Center for Agricultural Information Technology, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Tsukuba, Japan
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Maglianesi MA, Maruyama PK, Temeles EJ, Schleuning M, Zanata TB, Sazima M, Gutiérrez-Zamora A, Marín-Gómez OH, Rosero-Lasprilla L, Ramírez-Burbano MB, Ruffini AE, Salamanca-Reyes JR, Sazima I, Nuñez-Rosas LE, Arizmendi MDC, Rahbek C, Dalsgaard B. Behavioural and morphological traits influence sex-specific floral resource use by hummingbirds. J Anim Ecol 2022; 91:2171-2180. [PMID: 35596605 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13746] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2021] [Accepted: 05/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
1. Research on resource partitioning in plant-pollinator mutualistic systems is mainly concentrated at the levels of species and communities, whereas differences between males and females are typically ignored. Nevertheless, pollinators often show large sexual differences in behaviour and morphology, which may lead to sex-specific patterns of resource use with the potential to differentially affect plant reproduction and diversification. 2. We investigated variation in behavioural and morphological traits between sexes of hummingbird species as potential mechanisms underlying sex-specific flower resource use in ecological communities. To do so, we compiled a dataset of plant-hummingbird interactions based on pollen loads for 31 hummingbird species from 13 localities across the Americas, complemented by data on territorial behaviour (territorial or nonterritorial) and morphological traits (bill length, bill curvature, wing length and body mass). 3. We assessed the extent of intersexual differences in niche breadth and niche overlap in floral resource use across hummingbird species. Then, we tested whether floral niche breadth and overlap between sexes are associated with sexual dimorphism in behavioural or morphological traits of hummingbird species, while accounting for evolutionary relatedness among the species. 4. We found striking differences in patterns of floral resource use between sex. Females had a broader floral niche breadth and were more dissimilar in the plant species visited with respect to males of the same species, resulting in a high level of resource partitioning between sexes. We found that both territoriality and morphological traits were related to sex-specific resource use by hummingbird species. Notably, niche overlap between sexes was greater for territorial than nonterritorial species, and moreover, niche overlap was negatively associated with sexual dimorphism in bill curvature across hummingbird species. 5. These results reveal the importance of behavioural and morphological traits of hummingbird species in sex-specific resource use and that resource partitioning by sex is likely to be an important mechanism to reduce intersexual competition in hummingbirds. These findings highlight the need for better understanding the putative role of intersexual variation in shaping patterns of interactions and plant reproduction in ecological communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- María A Maglianesi
- Vicerrectoría de Investigación, Universidad Estatal a Distancia, San José, Costa Rica
| | - Pietro K Maruyama
- Departamento de Genética, Ecologia e Evolução, ICB, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
| | | | - Matthias Schleuning
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (SBiK-F), Senckenberganlage 25, 60325, Frankfurt (Main), Germany
| | - Thais B Zanata
- Departamento de Botânica e Ecologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Cuiabá, MT, Brasil
| | - Marlies Sazima
- Departamento de Biologia Vegetal, Instituto de Biología, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, SP, Brasil
| | | | - Oscar H Marín-Gómez
- Grupo de Investigación y Asesoría en Estadística. Universidad del Quindío, Armenia, Colombia.,Center for Global Mountain Biodiversity, GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Liliana Rosero-Lasprilla
- Grupo de Investigación Biología para la Conservación, Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de, Colombia
| | - Mónica B Ramírez-Burbano
- Grupo Ecología y Diversidad Vegetal, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad del Valle, Calle 13 # 100-00, Cali, Colombia
| | - Alejandra E Ruffini
- E. Ruffini. Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche, Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Unidad Postal Universidad, 8400, Bariloche, Argentina
| | | | - Ivan Sazima
- Museu de Biodiversidade Biológica, Instituto de Biología, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, SP, Brasil
| | - Laura E Nuñez-Rosas
- Facultad de Estudios Superiores Iztacala, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Av. de los Barrios 1, Los Reyes Iztacala, Tlalnepantla, Estado de México, México
| | - María Del Coro Arizmendi
- Facultad de Estudios Superiores Iztacala, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Av. de los Barrios 1, Los Reyes Iztacala, Tlalnepantla, Estado de México, México
| | - Carsten Rahbek
- Center for Global Mountain Biodiversity, GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, Copenhagen, Denmark.,Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen Ø, Denmark.,Institute of Ecology, Peking University, Beijing, China.,Danish Institute for Advanced Study, University of Southern Denmark, Odense M, Denmark
| | - Bo Dalsgaard
- Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen Ø, Denmark.,Section for Molecular Ecology and Evolution, GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen K, Denmark
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