Floral resource availability declines and florivory increases along an elevation gradient in a highly biodiverse community.

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

Flower-visitor interactions comprise a continuum of behaviours, from mutualistic partners to antagonistic visitors. Despite being relatively frequent in natural communities, florivory remains unexplored, especially when comprising abiotic factors, spatio-temporal variations and global environmental changes. Here, we addressed the variation of florivory driven by changes in elevation and temporal flower availability. We expect decreased floral resources as elevation increases - due to environmental constraints - which may affect plant-florivore interactions. Yet if floral resources decrease but florivores remain constant, then we may expect an increase in florivory with increasing elevation in the community.

Methods

The flowering phenology of plant individ

SUBMITTER: Gelvez-Zuniga I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11805935 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature