Pollinator specialization: from the individual to the community

2016/04/01 by Berry J. Brosi · 8 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Environmental Science · #Plant and animal studies #Plant Parasitism and Resistance #Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies

paper · doi:10.1111/nph.13951

Abstract

1190 I. 1190 II. 1191 III. 1191 IV. 1193 V. 1193 1194 References 1194 SUMMARY: Most spermatophytes need conspecific pollen in order to produce seed. This need for specialization seems to conflict with the generalized nature of most plant-pollinator interactions. Specialization and generalization are dynamic - not fixed - and exist simultaneously in multiple states at different levels of biological hierarchy. Over the short term, specialization ensures conspecific pollen transfer, whereas over the long term, generalization improves system-level robustness. The balance between specialization and generalization at different scales is critical for different kinds of ecological functioning and is an important factor in plant speciation and the evolution of plant mating systems. Community context, including diversity and interaction network structure at different levels of aggregation, is a key driver of specialization dynamics.

Citations

• Morphological Variation and Width of Ecological Niche
• EFFECTS OF BIODIVERSITY ON ECOSYSTEM FUNCTIONING: A CONSENSUS OF CURRENT KNOWLEDGE
• The Ecology of Individuals: Incidence and Implications of Individual Specialization

Cited by

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