Why do pollination generalist and specialist plant species show similar reproductive susceptibility to habitat fragmentation?

LORENA ASHWORTH; AGUILAR, R.; LEONARDO GALETTO; AIZEN, M. A.

Journal of ecology (Print)

British Ecological Society

Año: 2004 vol. 92 p. 717 - 719

0022-0477

Abstract1  Although reproductive success of pollination specialist plants has been predicted tobe more sensitive to habitat fragmentation than that of generalist plants, recent resultsindicate that effects do not differ between plants with different degrees of specialization.2  We provide an explanation for such unexpected results by linking evidence thatspecialization of  plant–pollinator interactions is asymmetric to observations thatgeneralist pollinators are less affected by habitat fragmentation.3  Plant specialization cannot therefore be considered in isolation from the degree ofspecialization of the mutualist partners. Evaluation of both sides of the mutualisticinteraction will yield insights into the mechanisms behind species’ responses to habitatfragmentation.Key-words:  Asymmetric interactions, extinction risk, habitat fragmentation, mutualismdisruption, niche breadth, plant–animal mutualism, plant reproductive success, pollina-tion specialization, reproductive susceptibility