Competition, trait-mediated facilitation, and the structure of plant-pollinator communities

TL;DR

This study uses a mathematical model to explore how adaptive pollinator preferences influence plant-pollinator community structure, promoting coexistence and complex dynamics through trait-mediated facilitation and specialization.

Contribution

It demonstrates how adaptive pollinator preferences can alter community dynamics, leading to coexistence, alternative stable states, and facilitation among plants.

Findings

Adaptive preferences promote coexistence of generalist and specialist pollinators.

Pollinator adaptation results in complex plant population dynamics.

Plant-plant facilitation occurs via changes in pollinator preferences.

Abstract

In plant-pollinator communities many pollinators are potential generalists and their preferences for certain plants can change quickly in response to changes in plant and pollinator densities. These changes in preferences affect coexistence within pollinator guilds as well as within plant guilds. Using a mathematical model, we study how adaptations of pollinator preferences influence population dynamics of a two-plant-two-pollinator community interaction module. Adaptation leads to coexistence between generalist and specialist pollinators, and produces complex plant population dynamics, involving alternative stable states and discrete transitions in the plant community. Pollinator adaptation also leads to plant-plant apparent facilitation that is mediated by changes in pollinator preferences. We show that adaptive pollinator behavior reduces niche overlap and leads to coexistence by specialization on different plants. Thus, this article documents how adaptive pollinator preferences for plants change the structure and coexistence of plant-pollinator communities.