Explaining the effects of floral density on flower visitor species composition.

ABSTRACT: Floral density often influences the species composition of flower visitors. This variation in visitor species composition could have significant effects on pollination success and plant fitness but is poorly understood, especially in the many pollination guilds dominated by nonterritorial species. This article presents a foraging model that explores how flower visitors with diverse traits should distribute themselves across resource patches differing in floral density. The model predicts that species with low flower search speeds and low flower handling costs compared to those of competitors will usually dominate dense flower patches. In addition, among flower visitors that have lower energy expenditure rates while handling flowers than while traveling, species maximizing energetic efficie

SUBMITTER: Essenberg CJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3825104 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature