Ollerton, J., Alarcon, R., Waser, N. M., Price, M. V., Watts, S., Cranmer, L., Hingston, A., Peter, C. I. and Rotenberry, J. (2009) A global test of the pollination syndrome hypothesis. Annals of Botany. 103(9), pp. 1471-1480. 0305-7364.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Abstract: | Background and Aims ‘Pollination syndromes’ are suites of phenotypic traits hypothesized to reflect convergent adaptations of flowers for pollination by specific types of animals. They were first developed in the 1870s and honed during the mid 20th Century. In spite of this long history and their central role in organizing research on plant–pollinator interactions, the pollination syndromes have rarely been subjected to test. The syndromes were tested here by asking whether they successfully capture patterns of covariance of floral traits and predict the most common pollinators of flowers. Methods Flowers in six communities from three continents were scored for expression of floral traits used in published descriptions of the pollination syndromes, and simultaneously the pollinators of as many species as possible were characterized. Key Results Ordination of flowers in a multivariate ‘phenotype space’ defined by the syndromes showed that almost no plant species fall within the discrete syndrome clusters. Furthermore, in approximately two-thirds of plant species, the most common pollinator could not be successfully predicted by assuming that each plant species belongs to the syndrome closest to it in phenotype space. Conclusions The pollination syndrome hypothesis as usually articulated does not successfully describe the diversity of floral phenotypes or predict the pollinators of most plant species. Caution is suggested when using pollination syndromes for organizing floral diversity, or for inferring agents of floral adaptation. A fresh look at how traits of flowers and pollinators relate to visitation and pollen transfer is recommended, in order to determine whether axes can be identified that describe floral functional diversity more successfully than the traditional syndromes. |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Convergent evolution, floral traits, global, montane meadow, multidimensional scaling, mutualism, phenotype space, pollination syndromes, temperate grassland, test, tropical forest, tropical mountains |
| Subjects: |
Q Science > QK Botany > QK926 Pollination Q Science > QK Botany > QK900 Plant ecology |
| Creators: | Ollerton, Jeff, Alarcon, R, Waser, N M, Price, M V, Watts, Stella, Cranmer, Louise, Hingston, A, Peter, C I and Rotenberry, J |
| Publisher: | Oxford University Press |
| Faculties, Divisions and Institutes: | University Faculties, Divisions and Research Centres - OLD > School of Applied Sciences (to 2009) > Environmental Science (to 2009) |
| Date: | June 2009 |
| Date Type: | Publication |
| Page Range: | pp. 1471-1480 |
| Journal or Publication Title: | Annals of Botany |
| Volume: | 103 |
| Number: | 9 |
| Language: | English |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcp031 |
| ISSN: | 0305-7364 |
| Status: | Published / Disseminated |
| Refereed: | Yes |
| URI: | http://nectar.northampton.ac.uk/id/eprint/3018 |
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