Floral colour variation of Nicotiana glauca in native and non-native ranges: testing the role of pollinators’ perception and abiotic factors

COSTA A.; MORÉ M.; SÉRSIC AN.; COCUCCI AA.; DREWNIAK ME.; IZQUIERDO JV; COETZEE A.; PAUW A.; TRAVESET A.; PAIARO V.

PLANT BIOLOGY

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2023

1435-8603

●Invasive plants displaying disparate pollination environments and abiotic conditions in native and non-native ranges provide ideal systems to testthe role of different ecological factors driving flower colour variation.●We quantified corolla reflectance of the ornithophilous South American Nicotiana glauca in native populations, where plants are pollinated by hummingbirds, and in populations from two invaded regions: South Africa, where plants are pollinated by sunbirds, and the Balearic island of Mallorca, where plants reproduce by selfing. Using visual modelling we examined how corolla reflectance could be perceived by floral visitors present in each region. Through Mantel tests we assessed a possible association between flower colour and different abiotic factors.●Native and non-native populations varied in corolla reflectance between 550 and 700 nm (i.e. human green-yellow, orange and red) and between 300 and 400 nm (UV), showing a larger variation among regions than within them. Flower colour was more similar between South America and South Africa, which share birds as pollinators. Within invaded regions, corolla reflectance variation was lower in South Africa, where populations could not be distinguished from each other by sunbirds. Differences in corolla colour among populations were partially associated with differences in temperature. ●Our findings suggest that shifts in flower colour of N. glauca across native and invaded ranges could be shaped by changes in both pollination environments and climatic factors. This is the first study in the context of plant invasions considering visual perception of pollinators and including both biotic and abiotic drivers of flower colour evolution.