Comparing floral morphology and inflorescence structure of Lupins argenteus and L. bakeri in sympatry and allopatry

Abstract

Differences or similarities in floral morphology can affect the interactions between plants and shared pollinator communities. As such, plant species with similar floral morphology may be competing for pollinators or facilitating pollinator attraction. Thus, pollinators mediate selection on floral morphology. In the Mountain West, two closely related species, Lupinus argenteus and Lupinus bakeri, co-occur, share flower phenology, and have similar floral morphology and inflorescence structures. However, the degree of shared floral morphology and inflorescence structure in areas where both species cooccur compared to areas of where only one, or the other, occurs is unknown. With pollinator mediated selection in mind, this leads to the question, does sympatry predict variation in floral morphology and inflorescence structure of Lupinus bakeri and Lupinus argenteus populations? We took population census data from 5 sites paired across elevation, 3 sympatric populations and 2 allopatric populations, and measure inflorescence structure and floral morphological traits to attempt to answer this question. Based upon our results we found that L. argenteus shows evidence of divergence when in sympatry for the two variables: floral volume and banner to wing gap angle. Which suggests that pollinator sharing between L. argenteus and L. bakeri is competitive. Furthermore, the directionality of this divergence is a trend towards lower floral volume and smaller gap angles, which also suggest that L. argenteus is pollinator filtering. The outcomes of our study, highlights the interactions between floral morphology and pollinator communities, which can lead to potential studies that explore the degree and direction of selection that may, or may not, be present. Furthermore, future studies could use the findings of this project to aid in assessing pollinator communities for each species of subject.

Knowledge graph centered on Comparing floral morphology and inflorescence stru with 13 nodes and 37 connections. Top connected: Lupinus prunophilus, Lupinus caespitosus, Lupinus, vascular plants, Lupinus species.

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