Pollinator Foraging Adaptation and Coexistence of Competing Plants.

ABSTRACT: We use the optimal foraging theory to study coexistence between two plant species and a generalist pollinator. We compare conditions for plant coexistence for non-adaptive vs. adaptive pollinators that adjust their foraging strategy to maximize fitness. When pollinators have fixed preferences, we show that plant coexistence typically requires both weak competition between plants for resources (e.g., space or nutrients) and pollinator preferences that are not too biased in favour of either plant. We also show how plant coexistence is promoted by indirect facilitation via the pollinator. When pollinators are adaptive foragers, pollinator's diet maximizes pollinator's fitness measured as the per capita population growth rate. Simulations show that this has two conflicting consequences for pla

SUBMITTER: Revilla TA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4978411 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature