Predation on Pollinators Promotes Coevolutionary Divergence in Plant-Pollinator Mutualisms
Authored by Kotaro Kagawa, Gaku Takimoto
Date Published: 2014
DOI: 10.1086/674442
Sponsors:
No sponsors listed
Platforms:
Java
Model Documentation:
Other Narrative
Mathematical description
Model Code URLs:
http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/suppl/10.1086/674442/suppl_file/computersimulationsourcecode.txt
Abstract
Coevolution of plants and pollinators has been suggested as a mechanism
driving diversification of plant-pollinator mutualisms. There is
increasing recognition that predators or competitors can influence the
abundance and behavior of pollinators and indirectly affect the fitness
of plants. However, existing theories on plant-pollinator
diversification focus exclusively on mutualistic interactions between
plants and pollinators. Here we used simulations to evaluate whether
predation on pollinators promotes coevolutionary diversification of
plant-pollinator mutualisms. We developed an individual-based simulation
model in which the blooming season of plants and the active seasons of
pollinators and predators can evolve. In simulations without predators, plant-pollinator coevolution caused diversification in blooming/active
seasons for both plants and pollinators, but this diversification
resulted in polymorphisms, not speciation. The introduction of predators
promoted a split of plant and pollinator populations into reproductively
isolated subpopulations with corresponding blooming and active seasons
or a directional shift of blooming and active seasons, increasing the
possibility of plant-pollinator cospeciation. This result suggests that
predation on pollinators can promote sympatric and allopatric divergence
of plant-pollinator mutualisms. Joint action of antagonistic and
mutualistic interactions may be fundamentally important for
diversification in coevolutionary interactions.
Tags
Evolution
Diversity
Biodiversity
Specialization
classification
sympatric speciation
stability
fitness
Flowering phenology
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