Mechanical fit between flower and pollinators in relation to realized precision and accuracy in the hummingbird-pollinated Dolichandra cynanchoides

POBLETE PALACIOS, J A; SOTERAS, F; COCUCCI, A A

BIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2019 vol. 126 p. 655 - 665

0024-4066

Adaptive accuracy of flowers in the context of pollination can be used to address the relationships between flower phenotype (fundamental pollination accuracy and precision) and realized accuracy and precision (interaction of floral parts with a pollinator itself). Here we tested whether effectiveness (number of pollen grains transported per visit) and realized male and female accuracy and precision differ between two hummingbird-pollinator species that pollinate the ornitophilous liana D. cynanchoides. Although the hummingbird species did not differ in the frequency of flower visitation, H. furcifer carried pollen on a narrower spot of the head and deposited significantly more pollen on a restricted zone of artificial stigmas −representative of the true stigma− than the other hummingbird, S. sparganura. Flower structure exhibited similar accuracy of pollen deposition on and retrieval from pollinators. Functional flower depth matched significantly with the bill of the hummingbird exhibiting the highest precision and accuracy. This suggests that mechanical reciprocal fit may be responsible for the better pollinator performance of this species. In this study we highlight that differences in realized accuracy and precision may explain evolutionary response to pollinator specialization in a single pollinator species within functional groups.