Geographic mosaics of interactions via heterospecific pollen transfer
may contribute to shape local and global patterns of plant diversity
Abstract
Studies that aim to understand the processes that generate and organize
plant diversity in nature have a long history in Ecology. Among these,
pollinator-mediated plant-plant interactions that occur by altering
pollinator floral preferences have been at the forefront in this field.
Current evidence however indicates that plants can interact directly via
heterospecific pollen (HP) transfer, that these interactions are
ubiquitous, and can have strong fitness effects with implications for
floral evolution, speciation and community assembly. Hence, interest in
understanding their role in the diversification and organization of
plant communities is rapidly rising. The existence of geographic mosaics
of species interactions and their role in shaping patterns of diversity
is also well recognized. However, after 40 years of research, the
importance of geographic mosaics in HP intensity and effects remain
poorly known, thus ignoring its potential in shaping patterns of
diversity at local and global scales. Here, I develop a conceptual
framework and summarize existing evidence for the ecological and
evolutionary consequences of geographic mosaics in HP transfer
interactions and outline future directions in this field.