ibclogo XVI International Botanical Congess


Abstract Number: 3840
Session = 7.9.7


POLLINATOR PREFERENCE, FREQUENCY-DEPENDENCE, AND FLORAL EVOLUTION


Ann Smithson, School of Biological Sciences, University of Exeter


Pollinator preferences for a range of floral traits can often be determined by their frequency in a plant population. Frequency dependent selection could have a major impact on floral evolution, by affecting the fitness of newly evolved, novel, floral types. Simple frequency-dependent responses are displayed by foraging bumblebees to colours of single artificial flowers, which develop more quickly than learning the profitabilities of different flower colours. More complex frequency-dependent responses are displayed when bumblebees forage on artificial inflorescences, both for different flower colour types and patterns of prescence or absence of reward. Two examples where frequency-dependent pollinator behaviour could have had a impact on floral evolution in the Orchidaceae are discussed.


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