Hummingbird responses to gender-biased nectar production: are nectar biases maintained by natural or sexual selection?

ABSTRACT: Pollinators mediate the evolution of secondary floral traits through both natural and sexual selection. Gender-biased nectar, for example, could be maintained by one or both, depending on the interactions between plants and pollinators. Here, I investigate pollinator responses to gender-biased nectar using the dichogamous herb Chrysothemis friedrichsthaliana (Gesneriaceae) which produces more nectar during the male floral phase. Previous research showed that the hummingbird pollinator Phaethornis striigularis visited male-phase flowers more often than female-phase flowers, and multiple visits benefited male more than female fecundity. If sexual selection maintains male-biased rewards, hummingbirds should prefer more-rewarding flowers independent of floral gender. If, however, differential

SUBMITTER: Carlson JE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2587787 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature