Hauling field gear up Gothic Mountain…
Abstract Floral phenotypes may be as much the result of selection for avoidance of some animal visitors as selection for improving the interaction with better pollinators. When specializing on hummingbird-pollination, Penstemon flowers may have evolved to improve the morphological fit between bird and flower, or to exclude less-efficient bees, or both. We hypothesized how such selection might work on four floral characters that affect the mechanics of pollen transfer: anther/stigma exsertion, presence of a lower corolla lip, width of the corolla tube, and angle of flower inclination. We surgically modified bee-pollinated P. strictus flowers changing one trait at a time to make them resemble hummingbird-pollinated P. barbatus flowers, and measured pollen transfer by bumblebees and hummingbirds. Results suggest that, apart from ‘pro-bird’ adaptations, specific ‘anti-bee’ adaptations have been important in shaping hummingbird-flowers. Moreover, some trait changes may have been selected for only if changing in concert with other traits.
Knowledge graph centered on 'Anti-bee' and 'pro-bird' changes during the evolu with 16 nodes and 49 connections. Top connected: Hummingbird, Pollen presentation and pollination syndromes, wit, Dynamic nectar replenishment in flowers of <i>Pens, The effect of nectar guides on pollinator preferen, Components of Phenotypic Selection: pollen export .
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10 in Knowledge Commons, 40 external