IMBIV   05474
INSTITUTO MULTIDISCIPLINARIO DE BIOLOGIA VEGETAL
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
artículos
Título:
The long and the short of it: a global analysis of hawkmoth pollination niches and interaction networks.
Autor/es:
MORÉ, M.; FRANKIE, G. W.; RAGUSO, R.; JOHNSON, S. D.; HABER, W. A.; COCUCCI A. A.; AMORIM, F.; STANLEY, D. A.
Revista:
FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY
Editorial:
WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC
Referencias:
Lugar: Londres; Año: 2016 vol. 31 p. 101 - 115
ISSN:
0269-8463
Resumen:
p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; line-height: 120%; }Proboscis length has been proposed as a key dimension of plantpollination niches, but this niche space has not previously beenexplored at regional and global scales for any pollination system.Hawkmoths are ideal organisms for exploring pollinator niches asthey are important pollinators in most of the biodiverse regions ofthe earth and vary greatly in proboscis length, with some specieshaving the longest proboscides of all insects.Using data sets for ninebiogeographical regions spanning the Old and New World, we askwhether it is possible to identify distinct hawkmoth pollinationniches based on the frequency distribution of proboscis length, andwhether these niches are reflected in the depths of flowers that arepollinated by hawkmoths. We also investigate the levels ofspecialization in hawkmoth pollination systems at the regional andcommunity level using data from interaction network studies.We found that most regionalhawkmoth assemblages have bimodal or multimodal distributions ofproboscis length and that these are matched by similar distributionsof floral tube lengths. Hawkmoths, particularly those with longerproboscides, are polyphagous and at the network level show foragingspecialization equivalent to or less than that of bees andhummingbirds. In the case of plants, shorter-tubed flowers areusually visited by numerous hawkmoth species, while those that arelonger-tubed tend to exclude shorter-proboscid hawkmoths and thusbecome ecologically specialized on longer-proboscid hawkmothspecies. Longer-tubed flowers tend to have greater nectar rewards,and this promotes short-term constancy by long-proboscid hawkmoths.Our results show that pollinator proboscis length is a keyniche axis for plants and can account for the patterns of evolutionin functional traits such as floral tube length and nectar volume.We also highlight a paradoxical trend for nectar resource nichebreadth to increase according to proboscis length of pollinators,while pollinator niche breadth decreases according to the tubelength of flowers.