Does pollen limitation limit plant ranges? Evidence and implications.

ABSTRACT: Sexual reproduction often declines towards range edges, reducing fitness, dispersal and adaptive potential. For plants, sexual reproduction is frequently limited by inadequate pollination. While case studies show that pollen limitation can limit plant distributions, the extent to which pollination commonly declines towards plant range edges is unknown. Here, we use global databases of pollen-supplementation experiments and plant occurrence data to test whether pollen limitation increases towards plant range edges, using a phylogenetically controlled meta-analysis. While there was significant pollen limitation across studies, we found little evidence that pollen limitation increases towards plant range edges. Pollen limitation was not stronger towards the tropics, nor at species' equatorwar

SUBMITTER: Dawson-Glass E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8784924 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature