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Interspecific pollen transfer and competition between co-occurring plant species

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Summary

Computer simulations of a pollinator foraging in a mixture of two species were used to explore how plant reproduction can be influenced by interspecific pollination movements. Interspecific pollen transfer led to strong competitive effects when availabilities of pollen, receptive stigma surfaces, or pollinator movements were limited relative to the total number of fertilizations possible in the mixed population. Results from simulations suggest that competition for pollination through interspecific pollen transfer can result in rapid exclusion of one of two species, and that such competition represents a selective force promoting stable divergence of potential competitors in habitat affinity, flowering time, or other characteristics related to pollinator sharing.

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  1. Nickolas M. Waser

    Present address: Department of Biology, University of Utah, 84112, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

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  1. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, 85721, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Nickolas M. Waser

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Waser, N.M. Interspecific pollen transfer and competition between co-occurring plant species. Oecologia 36, 223–236 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00349811

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