Birds Perceive More Intraspecific Color Variation in Bird-Pollinated Than Bee-Pollinated Flowers.

ABSTRACT: Pollinator-mediated selection is expected to constrain floral color variation within plant populations. Here, we test for patterns of constraint on floral color variation in 38 bee- and/or hummingbird-pollinated plant species from Colorado, United States. We collected reflectance spectra for at least 15 individuals in each of 1-3 populations of each species (total 78 populations) and modeled perceived color variation in both bee and bird visual spaces. We hypothesized that bees would perceive less intraspecific color variation in bee-pollinated species (vs. bird-pollinated species), and reciprocally, birds would perceive less color variation in bird-pollinated species (vs. bee-pollinated species). In keeping with the higher dimensionality of the bird visual system, birds typically perceive

SUBMITTER: Whitney KD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7705070 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature