Linking pollinator efficiency to patterns of pollen limitation: small bees exploit the plant-pollinator mutualism.

ABSTRACT: Seemingly mutualistic relationships can be exploited, in some cases reducing fitness of the exploited species. In plants, the insufficient receipt of pollen limits reproduction. While infrequent pollination commonly underlies pollen limitation (PL), frequent interactions with low-efficiency, exploitative pollinators may also cause PL. In the widespread protandrous herb Campanula americana, visitation by three pollinators explained 63% of the variation in PL among populations spanning the range. Bumblebees and the medium-sized Megachile campanulae enhanced reproductive success, but small solitary bees exacerbated PL. To dissect mechanisms behind these relationships, we scored sex-specific floral visitation, and the contributions of each pollinator to plant fitness using single

SUBMITTER: Koski MH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6015843 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature