Our study is the first to quantify variation in nectar production in a supposedly 'nectarless' Pedicularis species. Flower manipulations by adding nectar suggested that gain (or loss) of nectar would quickly result in an adaptive behavioural shift in the pollinator, producing a new location for pollen deposition and stigma contact without a shift to other pollinators. Frequent gains of nectar in Pedicularis species would be beneficial by enhancing pollinator attraction in unpredictable pollination environments.
Floral evolution accompanying transitions to homostyly in were found to be consistent with predictions of mating system evolution theory, and the correlation of traits in distylous vs. homostylous species revealed that pollen size generally correlates with stigma depth rather than style length.
Having hundreds of big mountains, the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau and its southern boundary, the Hengduan Mountains Region, represent one of the world's biodiversity hotspots. In the so‐called “Third Pole of the earth”, diverse effects of climate change and habitat heterogeneity could have driven the evolution of plant adaptive strategies. In this review, we collected and compiled recent sources of reproductive biology in animal‐pollinated plants, stressing the questions that need further attention, including pollination system, pollen limitation, self‐compatibility, and sexual system. We constructed plant–pollinator interaction networks based on the case studies from this region, showing that the majority of pollinators were bees, moths, butterflies, and flies were also important, and bats and birds were rare. As the unpredictable (cold, rainy or windy) weather affects pollinator activities, sexual reproduction seemed to be pollen limited, but available studies show that the exact pattern of pollen limitation is still under debate. Self‐compatibility could be either a solution, or a result from pollen limitation. Moreover, plant sexual systems can be regarded as an integrated module that counters pollen limitation. As phylogenetic relationships were constructed, diverse genera experienced rapid radiation were revealed in these mountainous areas. Further studies of evolutionary transitions in reproductive systems of congeners will unveil potential factors shaping the general pattern of adaptive strategies in animal‐pollinated plants. Further studies will be beneficial in using advanced new techniques, examining phenotypic selection under common gardens, and considering chemical ecology in interactions between plants and florivores, particularly in pollen fate.
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